N.S. government mulls allowing smaller municipalities to issue emergency alerts

The Houston government is considering decentralizing Nova Scotia's emergency alert process so that smaller communities can issue their own, a move that comes in the wake of devastating flooding last month that killed four people.

"It's incredibly important the officials who have their eyes and ears on the ground who are right there in the thick of it, that they're listened to and respected and that they have proper training in issuing alerts if they're the ones making those decisions," Premier Tim Houston told reporters on Wednesday.

Houston said he's instructed the province's Emergency Management Office to meet with fire chiefs, police chiefs and municipalities to talk about how to decentralize the system, to what extent they want to be able to issue alerts, and what training and support they would need. He said he hopes those meetings can happen in the next couple of weeks.

"I feel the urgency to get this, to get this right for Nova Scotians," Houston said.

According to a report in the Globe and Mail, the Brooklyn Volunteer Fire Department in West Hants repeatedly asked that an emergency alert be sent urging people to shelter in place as roads flooded in the early morning of July 22, but it was two hours before the province did so. During that time, four people were swept away after fleeing their homes in two vehicles.

Roughly half an hour after the first alert, a second was issued ordering an evacuation and telling residents to go to a local civic centre. It was later criticized by a retired deputy fire chief who told the Canadian Press it distracted firefighters from other rescues because people trying to get to the centre were getting stuck.

Improving cell coverage

Abraham Zebian, the mayor of West Hants, told CBC News in an email Wednesday his community "will always welcome improvements to emergency management and enhancements in how alerts are issued."

But Zebian said there also needs to be improvement to cell service in the area.

"I also expect both the provincial and federal governments to begin taking seriously the urgent need to address the lack of cellular coverage in rural West Hants," he wrote. "Without cellular coverage, people will just not receive the alerts." 

The Halifax Regional Municipality is able to send out its own emergency alerts. Erica Fleck, the municipality's division chief of emergency management, said in an email it's been helpful.

"The municipality finds the ability to issue emergency alerts beneficial. By using the provincial emergency alert system during emergency events, we can provide residents with critical updates in timely manner," Fleck said.

Nova Scotia's emergency alert system has been under scrutiny since the province's 2020 mass shooting, when 22 people were killed. At the time, some families said their loved ones wouldn't have been out on the road if an alert was sent. An alert was eventually sent out, but five minutes later police shot the gunman, ending the 13-hour rampage.