Third of southern BC residents don’t trust local governments to handle emergencies: poll

A recent poll has revealed that a third of residents in southern BC don’t have faith in the ability of municipal governments to handle emergencies. Yet, still only half of those surveyed have done anything to prepare.

More than half of BC residents said that, should an emergency arise, they would have confidence in their neighbours to deal with the situation, according to a Research Co. media release.

The poll showed that just over a third of British Columbians have put together an emergency plan that includes how to get in touch with family or friends in case of an emergency, and just under a quarter have established a meeting place with family or friends in case of an emergency.

Two in five British Columbians have bought or prepared an emergency kit with supplies they might need in case of a natural disaster, a serious accident, or an incident caused by human error, up two points since a similar poll in 2021.

“Only 36% of British Columbians aged 18-to-34 and aged 35-to-54 admit to lacking an emergency kit, an emergency plan and a meeting place,” said Mario Canseco, President of Research Co., in the release. “Among their counterparts aged 55 and over, the proportion rises to 48%.”

However, southern BC also represent the highest proportion of participants who said they haven’t done anything at all to prepare (49%).

The vast majority of BC residents believe the possibility of a highly damaging earthquake hitting the province is likely in the next 50 years.

However, a wide variety of emergency situations have the attention of the BC population.

At least three-in-five British Columbians expressed concern about high winds, intense rainfall, floods and heavy snowfall personally affecting them.

The rating is only slightly lower for a toxic spill, tsunami, landslide or terrorist attack which sees around half the population fearful for their safety.

Opinion also drastically differs according to region.

On Vancouver Island, close to three in five residents are fearful of a tsunami. While 77% in northern BC said they are concerned about heavy snowfall and three-in-four residents of the Fraser Valley are worried about floods.

Across the province, the two emergencies that British Columbians are concerned the most about are a fire (81%) and an earthquake (76%), both of which have increased since the last poll in 2021.

Meanwhile, half the pollution said they don’t have faith in the federal government to handle any of these issues.

More information about the poll can be found on the Research Co. website here.

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