Navigating Your Local Hazards, Risks, and Preparedness

Cowichan Region

Emergency Management Cowichan

Welcome to the Navigating Hazards, Risks, and Preparedness tool. This interactive tool, hosted on the  Emergency Management Cowichan (EMC) website , serves as a resource for sharing information about hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities in the Cowichan region to help residents take action to increase preparedness, reduce risks, and build resilience. EMC acknowledges that the Cowichan region is where for thousands of years the Quw'utsun, Malahat, Ts'uubaa-asatx, Halalt, Penelakut, Stz'uminus, Lyackson, Pauquachin, Ditidaht, and Pacheedaht Peoples have walked gently on these unceded territories.

Find Your Local Risks

To understand how hazards might impact communities differently, we have organized the region into 10 local areas based on land use and priority hazards. There are three options to find your local area and learn about priority hazards in your community:

1. If you know which local area you live or work in, click on the list below:

2. You can click on your local area in the map. Use the "Find address or place" button (the magnifier icon) in the top-left corner of the map and enter your address to zoom to the place of interest. Then, click on the area and a pop-up with link to the relevant local area page appears:

Scroll down to the "Priority Hazards" section to learn about priority hazards for the Cowichan region or click the navigation ribbon to navigate sections.

Priority Hazards in the Cowichan Region

Hazards can cause both direct impacts (when a hazard, such as floods, comes into contact with things we value, like houses or roads) and indirect impacts (such as disrupted access to hospitals, schools, or workplaces by the flooding of a road).

The Cowichan Hazard, Risk, Vulnerability, and Resilience Assessment (HRVA) evaluated  57 potential hazards  for communities, to identify priority hazards for the Cowichan region. The assessment provides insight into how likely a hazard is to occur; who and what might be impacted; and how susceptible people or places may be to short- and long-term impacts.

 Go to the EMC website for hazard definitions and further information.  Note that critical infrastructure interruptions are covered in the hazard impact overview for other priority hazards in this Navigating Hazards, Risks, and Preparedness tool.

Hazard

Remember, a hazard is a potential source or event that may cause harm and damage to humans, property, businesses, and the environment. Hazards can cause direct impacts to safety, property, and mobility, and indirect impacts, such as access to services and health impacts.

Risk

Risk is the combination of likelihood (unlikely or frequently) and impact (low to high impact to people, environment, economy, etc.) of a hazard occurring.

Building Resilience Together

While the region faces impacts from many hazards, the Cowichan region is also a region of community resilience. We are a stronger community when we extend helping hands to one another, a truth evident in how Cowichan residents support each other through good and challenging circumstances. Here are inspiring stories highlighting how residents and organizations are building resilience to common hazards.

Story 1: Food Security Network

Story 2: FireSmart Neighbourhood

Story 3: Cowichan Lake Weir Upgrade

Resilience

The ability of a system, community, or society to resist, absorb, accommodate, and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of essential structures and functions.

What You Can Do to Prepare

At Home:

In Your Community:

  • Get to know your neighbours and know who might need help in an emergency. You can plan how to reach out or where to gather in case of an emergency.
  • Volunteer with or support local organizations committed to serving your community. These networks are vital for strengthening community resilience and response at the local level.
  • Join a  Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness Team  and help prepare your community in six simple steps.

Learn More

What is Emergency Management Cowichan doing? EMC is a local and regional government service that focuses on emergency management. Our goal is to lead the communities throughout the Cowichan region to prepare, respond, recover from, and mitigate emergency or disaster situations. Part of emergency management is preparedness planning. Through the Cowichan region Hazard, Risk, Vulnerability, and Resilience Assessment (HRVA), EMC worked with local authorities, governments, First Nations, community organizations, and others to understand which hazards present the greatest risk to the region. This assessment will help to inform long-term preparedness planning across the region and strengthen community resilience. To learn about the HRVA and understand your risk, click  here .

To learn more about the information presented in this portal, visit:

Additional Information

Methods

EMC, with the participation of organizations from across the region, led the development of a baseline assessment of risks and resilience used to support decision-making. The assessment reviewed  57 hazards  based on provincial guidance and identified 14 priority hazards for the Cowichan region. This interactive tool was designed to bring information from this Hazard, Risk, Vulnerability, and Resilience Assessment (HRVA) to the public.

To make the HRVA information more accessible and localized, we distinguished 10 local areas based on geography (e.g., coastal, inland, forested, lake), land use (e.g., urban, rural, agricultural), and types of localized hazards – see the map for these groupings. This is meant to support preparedness efforts aimed at unique challenges faced by each area.

For information on the Cowichan HRVA, visit the  EMC website  or contact general@emcowichan.ca with questions.

Reference

Emergency Management Cowichan. 2024. “Cowichan Region Hazard, Risk, and Vulnerability Analysis Overview Report. Prepared by Ebbwater Consulting Inc. and SHIFT Collaborative.”