Flood Work Volunteers Scarce

Friday, June 01, 2007 04:00 AM

There has been no flood of volunteers to Prince George City Hall to sign up to help should the rivers spill their banks. In fact the numbers have been so low, it can hardly be described as a trickle.

Just two people have gone to City Hall to sign up to help fill sandbags, or work with emergency social services.

The City had issued a call last week for interested volunteers to sign up at City Hall. That would ensure they were covered by WorkSafe B.C. The registration also means the volunteers would be exempt from liability.

The registration is necessary, and while it would still have to be done in an emergency situation, City Hall had hoped volunteers would do the paperwork now so precious time could be saved later.

“We know that if there is flooding, the people of Prince George will rally and will be more than willing to volunteer, we do have an incredible group of people here who are willing to help” says Christine Russell, Communications person with the City of Prince George.

It is likely the warm weather expected this weekend will speed up the melt. There are predictions the Fraser could hit 9 meters early next week. The flood mark is 9.2 meters.

Anyone interested in helping out, is encouraged to get the paperwork out of the way and sign up before the water levels are high. You can register at the main service counters at City Hall. You can sign up during regular business hours 8:30 to 5:00, Monday through Friday.

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Posted on Friday, June 01, 2007 04:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: ontwin on June 1 2007 11:19 AM

Put some of our "guests on the hill" to work,recoup some of our $$ that supports them.The majority of them are young & able bodied,just didn't want to work for an honest living.

Posted by: Palopu on June 3 2007 4:11 PM

Put as many roadblocks in the way as possible. Worksafe BC, Liability Insurance, etc; etc; etc;, and at the end of the day all the paperwork is to Cover the City for any liability.

The same thing applies to our school yards. For 15 years the playgrounds are ok, and then all of a sudden they all have to be removed because of the liability factor.

Every Government department and a lot of Private Business spend big money and time covering their butts for every possible situation.

All Municipalities in BC should band to-gether, along with Hydro, Power Corp, BC Ferries, ICBC, Worksafe BC etc; etc;, and they should be self insured, and get the Insurance Companies out of our faces. A number of truck lines do this, and I beleive that CN Rail, and CP Rail are all self insured.

In any event Im sure when the time comes that people in Prince George will respond to an emergency, and get to the **red tape** in due course.

Posted by: ontwin on June 3 2007 5:26 PM

I believe the third paragraph covers your concerns.