New West’s plans to beat the heat

Possibly activating cooling centres earlier, door knocking by staff, and a campaign to ensure neighbours get to know one another are some of the ways the city of New West wants to gain the upper hand over a major heat event. 

During last summer's fatal heat dome, the highest mortality rate recorded in the province was in New Westminster. The BC Coroners Service reported 41.8 deaths per 100,000 people.

“We’ve actually been planning since January with internal city departments, and ensuring we’re all on the same page,” explains Cory Hansen, acting manager for the city’s emergency response program. Hansen says New West is overall pleased with the BC Heat Alert and Response System (BC HARS), as it provides clarity around the messaging the city needs to share. 

“What you have is municipalities who start creating their own messaging internally for their staff, and also for the public – but now there’s an alignment [from the province] that follows: ‘we need you to concentrate in this area,’ [or] ‘this is what we want you to put out.’ We’re not just making up our own information,” she says. 

“We will probably start looking and activating earlier, given what happened last year. The HARS model says 29 degrees [during the day] with 17 degrees at night is where you sit with extreme heat warnings.” Hansen says making it past an extreme weather event requires everyone’s involvement, so it's why she says they’re working on a few outreach campaigns before things potentially get warmer.

“People need to be generally prepared, too, and not just rely on everyone else; they need to rely on themselves,” explains Hansen. “There’s a lot of buildings that we’re aware of [where] people don’t know their neighbours at all, they don’t even know who’s on the strata, and they’re scared. You need a couple of people that you know, that could help check on you, and just make things safer.”

Should the temperatures rise, Hansen says staff are hoping to do some doorknocking, but this depends on city resources. City staff would go to properties involving lower income units, buildings with seniors, three-storey walk-ups, high-rises, and properties that the city went to during last year’s heat events. Hansen says this would include letting them know that cooling venues are open.

City staff have also been sending out letters of consent to building owners and/or stratas to allow for that door knocking to happen. “We’ve had about 95% of them say, ‘yes, you’re okay, if you come into our building for this purpose, it’s not a problem at all.’ ” As for the other 5%, Hansen says building owners haven’t responded, or those they managed to get in touch with want to bring forward the request to strata council.

Another issue that some have talked about are the language barriers in trying to get important messaging out there – like sharing where one can find a cooling centre.

“Last year, we took our cooling venue signs, and translated them into the languages that are prominent in New Westminster – and we will do the same thing again.” Hansen doesn’t expect any changes from last year’s signs, but the city will make any changes if needed. The province has also included 11 translations of what to expect during a heat event. 

“If heat’s the new thing that we’re looking at, sort of like COVID, that this is our new normal – that this is something we’re going to continue to get – then we just need to plan better. We need to plan smarter, not harder, and just keep moving forward,” says Hansen. 

Things to know about the heat:

• When do plans get activated? BC HARS recommends activating heat plans and cooling centres at 29 degrees during the day, and 17 degrees at night. The city says it’s willing to do it sooner, and will assess that on a case-by-case basis.

• Where can I cool down? You’ll typically be able to access centres at Queensborough Community Centre, Anvil Centre, New West Public Library & Century House. In some cases, all venues may not always be open. Watch the New West Anchor Twitter, Instagram and/or Facebook pages for the latest on which spaces are open. You can also follow the city's Twitter for the most up-to-date information.

• What are some basic recommended preparations? Hansen says the biggest one is building relationships with neighbours, especially those who are more vulnerable and may need more support during a heat event.