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Langley City Emergency Program

The Langley City Emergency Program (LCEP) exists to protect Langley City's citizens, infrastructure, and the environment from major disasters. These initiatives are supported and executed by the City in the following ways:

  1. Creating, reviewing, updating, and testing the City's Emergency Plans
  2. Providing emergency preparedness educational opportunities for those who live and work in Langley City
  3. Administering Emergency Support Services (ESS) to those impacted and/or displaced from their homes during an emergency event

How can you prepare for an emergency?

Step 1: Know Your Hazards

Most common hazards in Langley City include but are not limited to:

Fire

There are two types of fires likely to occur in Langley City: Structural Fires (i.e. condos, townhomes, residential, or commercial buildings) and Wildland Urban Interface Fires (occurs when human developments meet wildland vegetation).

Structural Fires may start due to cooking mishaps, electrical malfunctions, smoking, heating equipment (i.e. space heater). unmonitored candles, neglect to clean the dryer vents after a laundry cycle, or arson.

Langley City also has many parks, forests, wetlands, and farmlands, with an abundance of lush greenery and wildlife. Not far from these locations are urban centres of residential and commercially occupied buildings, which pose a threat to property and life, if ever there was a fire. Wildland Urban Interface Fires can start due to extreme heat and dry conditions but can also be man-made through accidental or deliberate means, such as smoking too close to extremely dry vegetation.

Click here to read the Government of Canada's Home Fire Prevention Booklet.

Remember: If you encounter a fire, call 9-1-1 immediately!

Flood

The Nicomekl Flood Plain runs through Langley City, and in fact, "Nicomekl" is Halq'emeylem for "always flooding". Flooding is expected during certain times of the year, however climate change has made Atmospheric Rivers more common, leading to increased flood events in the City. With homes lining the edge of the floodplain, this could easily cause an emergency event.

Wondering how you can prepare for a flood event? Click here.

For more information on how Langley City manages Nicomekl River flood events, click here.

Extreme Cold

Each year, British Columbia is hit with extreme cold weather in the winter months, which can affect your safety in several ways:

  • Snow, rain, and ice can affect transportation and make it difficult to travel
  • There is an increased risk of slips and falls due to icy conditions
  • Lack of heating in your family home could cause health challenges
  • Power outages can cause major communication disruptions
  • Exposure to cold temperatures could lead to frostbite, hypothermia, or other cold-related illnesses
  • After the extreme cold weather event, there could also be an increased risk of flooding from the melting snow

Wondering how you can prepare for an extreme cold event? Click here.

Extreme Heat

Climate change is creating more hot weather events that are increasing in duration and intensity. Some consequences of higher-than-normal temperature include: 

  • Hotter days will lead to the drying out of vegetation, which means a loss of agriculture, more intense wildfires, and a longer fire season.
  • Infrastructure could start to fail, as heatwaves push materials and equipment beyond their temperature thresholds
  • More heat-related illnesses and deaths will occur as humidity becomes unbearable.

Wondering how you can prepare for a heat event? Click here.

Drought

Droughts are defined by a period of dry weather, caused by high temperatures and low rainfall. This lack of rainfall (and lack of snowpack in the winter) creates water shortages in communities. Water shortages have detrimental consequences, such as contributing to failing crops, leading to food shortages and even famine. Droughts will continue to be an ongoing issue in the years to come as the global temperature continues to rise.

What can you do to prepare for drought? Click here to read more.

Step 2: Make a Plan

Knowing the type of hazards that could occur in Langley City will allow you to better prepare when a disaster strikes. Once you've educated yourself on the hazards, start preparing your emergency plan.

What is an emergency plan and what information should it include?

An emergency plan addresses how you and the people you live with will respond to an emergency. A plan should include what to do, where to go, and who to contact if something goes wrong, so you and your family can respond calmly and effectively.

Create your own Household Emergency Plan, which should include information about the inhabitants of the house, including pets, various emergency contacts (i.e. insurance company, doctor's office), health information (ie. allergies, medications), location of household utilities (i.e. electric panel, water and gas valve), emergency kit location(s) and location(s) of basic emergency supplies, and a communication plan.

More on how to make a household emergency plan can be found here.

If you have completed the above steps and are feeling prepared, consider reaching out to your neighbours to check in on their emergency preparedness. 

Step 3: Build Your Emergency Kits

If a disaster strikes, you need to be ready to evacuate immediately or be prepared to stay put with your essentials. There are two types of emergency kits: a Grab-And-Go Kit and a Household Emergency Kit.

Standard emergency kits require 72 hours of emergency supplies, however it is best to prepare for 7-14 days. While you can buy complete emergency kits online, it is also possible to find the necessary contents to build your own with items from your local drug/grocery store. Once you have your emergency kit ready it should be reviewed annually to make sure expired items are thrown out and supplies are replenished.

Click here to learn more about emergency kits and what to include in yours.

Grab-And-Go Kit

Make a Grab-And-Go Kit for when you need to evacuate. Important supplies to include are:

  • Food
  • Water
  • Hand-held radio(s)
  • Batteries
  • Phone charger
  • First aid kit, and more.

Click here to learn more about emergency kits and what to include in yours.

Household Emergency Kit

Create a Household Emergency Kit with all the essential supplies when you need to stay put during an emergency event. Essentials to include are:

  • Non-perishable food
  • Water
  • First aid kit and medications
  • Toiletries
  • Cash
  • Clothing
  • Identification and insurance papers, and more.

Click here to learn more about emergency kits and what to include in yours.

How You Can Help

Become an Emergency Support Services (ESS) Volunteer Responder and support your community! 

Our Emergency Support Services Volunteer Responders support Langley City by providing:

  • Emergency Support Services: Assisting Langley City residents impacted and/or displaced from their homes by an emergency event with 72 hours of support. Examples of support provided includes but are not limited to food, clothing, and shelter.
  • Public Education: Providing public education opportunities to support the City's emergency preparedness public education initiatives.
  • Emergency Communication Services: Testing emergency equipment with Emergency Communication Services ahead of time.

The Langley Emergency Program (LCEP) will be recruiting volunteers soon. Please check back later for the application form and more information.

Connect With Your Community
  • Check out Prepared BC’s Neighborhood Preparedness Guides, and educate yourself on the material,
  • Host a condo/townhouse gathering, block party, or strata event to get to know your neighbours, exchange contact information, share community resources, and provide emergency preparedness information. If you have a Community Lead, request the set-up of a large community event.
  • Create a social media group for your community members to check in on each other and stay informed about what’s going on in the neighbourhood.
  • Share emergency preparedness information and resources in a common place, either online or in-person (on a shared bulletin board).
Resources