CAMPBELL RIVER, B.C. – The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) successfully tested its alert system today.
But according to the SRD’s Protective Service Coordinator Shaun Koopman, there was one issue: the SRD’s vast geography.
“We offer 17 different lists that people can subscribe to or receive notifications for. If there’s a tsunami warning for the west coast of Vancouver Island, we want to ensure that the people who have signed up for that list get that message as soon as possible,” Koopman said.
He added that the Connect Rocket alert system will only call 300 people per minute in the case of an emergency. This means that there may be some delay in getting the message out to some areas out of the 17. And if a resident signed up for more than one area, they could receive multiple messages.
“If you signed up to receive 17 different messages for 17 different lists such as Quadra Island, Cortes Island, the Oyster River Floodplain and whatnot, you’re going to be receiving 17 different notifications throughout the day.”
“The way this would be in real life, aside from a nuclear bomb threat, I can’t really anticipate a situation where we’d have to notify every single resident in the Strathcona Regional District at a single time.”
Koopman said the main piece of feedback he’s received is that some people didn’t realize they’ve been signed up for the service.
He said that if some residents didn’t receive a phone call or a text message, they probably were not signed up to receive them.
Connect Rocket, the SRD’s emergency alert system, allows residents to sign themselves for the service, as well as add those they know into the system so they can also receive alerts.
You can sign up to receive emergency alerts from Connect Rocket through this link.
