Emergency Management Organizations Portal

Evacuations and Hosting

Residents and community governments need to be prepared for evacuations and hosting evacuees when an emergency event threatens the health and safety of people.

Contents

Back to top

Evacuations

Evacuations are not uncommon in the NWT and are an emergency event that all individuals and community governments should plan for. Evacuations are very disruptive and should only be ordered when the risk situation warrants. Fortunately, a well thought out evacuation plan will ensure that when it comes time to evacuate, stress is minimized and evacuation supports are in place for those residents who require assistance.

It is expected that those individuals who are able to evacuate communities on their own will do so. Community evacuation plans describe how Local EMOs will assist individuals requiring evacuation support. Evacuation methods will be dependent on the incident and availability of resources. Evacuations can be partial (one area of the community is evacuated to another part of the community) or can be full community evacuations (requiring everyone to leave and be hosted elsewhere).

Work with your Local EMO to develop an evacuation plan for your community by following Appendix H in the Community Emergency Planning template. Should there be gaps the Local EMO cannot address, reach out to the MACA Regional Office to discuss support options prior to an emergency event. 

Back to top

Hosting

The need for hosting can arise in two scenarios:

  • A portion of the community requires evacuation and hosting is required in a part of the community unaffected by the emergency
  • Evacuees require hosting in an outside community

It is expected that those individuals who are able to find their own accommodations will do so. Community hosting plans describe how individuals who are unable to provide for themselves throughout a community evacuation period will be supported through the establishment of evacuation centres:

  • Evacuation centres are often group lodging facilities, such as school gymnasiums and recreation centres
  • Supports provided typically include cots, blankets and food services

If hosting supports are requested by the GNWT, community governments will be reimbursed for eligible hosting costs. Reach out to your MACA Regional Office to find out more.

Work with your Local EMO to develop a hosting plan for your community using Appendix I in the Community Emergency Planning template. 

Should there be gaps the Local EMO cannot address, reach out to the MACA Regional Office to discuss support options.

Back to top

Roles and Responsibilities

Local EMO

The Local EMO is responsible for planning and implementing both the evacuation and hosting portions of the Community Emergency Plan when required. The decision to evacuate a portion of, or the entire community, should be made in consultation and collaboration with your MACA Regional Office and subject matter experts who specialize in the hazard event.

Regional/ Territorial EMOs

Regional EMO members, led by the MACA Regional Office, are there to assist with planning when requested. They work with all other Regional and Territorial EMO members to provide support during an evacuation or hosting scenario if the Local EMO’s capacity has been exceeded and assistance is requested. MACA EMO staff are in constant communication with EMO members in other GNWT departments to facilitate timely and accurate information sharing.

Back to top

Before an Evacuation

Local EMOs should meet and develop their evacuation and hosting plans. Templates are available in Appendix H and Appendix I of the Community Emergency Planning template. Meet as a group and work through the instructions in the template to complete these plans. If you require assistance or have questions please reach out to your MACA Regional Office who can help you through this process.

Once complete, it is recommended the Local EMO walk through a tabletop exercise surrounding an evacuation or hosting scenario as a practice run. See the Community Emergency Planning page for more information on tabletop exercises and how to proceed.

It is recommended that before a high-risk period, such as spring river breakup or wildfire season, the Local EMO undertake efforts to pre-identify what support residents might need in the event of an evacuation. This is typically accomplished through reaching out to each household in your community to identify things like:

  • How many residents will require help evacuating
  • How many residents do not have their own lodging arrangements and will require hosting in an evacuation centre
  • Is there a need to plan for residents with special considerations 

Local EMOs can use the Evacuation Registration Form, also provided in Appendix H of the Community Emergency Plan template to conduct a pre-registration exercise. Once collected, the Local EMO can use the information gathered from the pre-registration exercise to ensure all plans are in place. For example, if 12 residents indicate they will require transportation assistance, that will give the Local EMO fair warning to make arrangements for this support ahead of an evacuation. Should there be gaps the Local EMO cannot address, reach out to the MACA Regional EMO lead to discuss support options prior to an emergency event. Pre-identifying potential requests for assistance will allow the Regional EMO to plan ahead and be better positioned to assist in a timely manner if and when an eventual request for assistance comes.

The pre-registration exercise is also an opportunity to pass along important information to residents such as:

  • How residents will know if there is a need to evacuate
  • Where an evacuation centre will be stood up if residents are unable to make their own accommodation arrangements
  • What to expect in the event of an evacuation and at an evacuation centre (see Evacuee Expectations for GNWT Coordinated Evacuation Flights for information in which the GNWT is supporting evacuation with flight coordination).
Back to top

Selection of Host Community

If a community government anticipates the need for evacuee hosting assistance outside the evacuating community, a host community should be pre-identified. Determining where an evacuation centre will be hosted is a decision made by Regional/Territorial EMOs. Careful consideration must be given in selecting a host community. Some of the factors include:

  • Location of host community (eg: Preference is to host evacuees in a regional centre where evacuees are more likely to have family ties and culturally similar surroundings).
  • Nature of emergency and risk to other communities (eg: Regional centres may face similar threats as the evacuating community and be deemed unsuitable for hosting).
  • Number of evacuees needing lodging (eg: A community with a very small population may be hosted by a regional centre. But if a larger community needs to evacuate, the regional centre may not have capacity and an evacuation centre may need to be located elsewhere, such as Yellowknife, Inuvik, or Hay River).
  • Access to required resources (eg: A community that has a building large enough to host evacuees will either need to have, or be provided with, the many resources needed to set up an evacuation centre. These may include transportation methods to ferry evacuees to and from the evacuation centre; beds, cots, and bedding; food and catering resources; and staffing considerations, such as Health and Social Services staff to do evacuee assessments, or volunteers to assist at the centre).
Back to top

During an Evacuation – Host Community

To assist community governments and Local EMOs with standing up and managing evacuation centres, see Appendix I of the Community Emergency Plan template. Additionally, the host community may wish to implement a code of conduct for the evacuation centre. The following resource has been developed as an example Evacuation Centre Guest Code of Conduct for use by community governments.

When a community government requires assistance in hosting evacuees, the NWT Emergency Plan identifies the mechanisms and departments assigned to support with hosting of evacuees.

Back to top

During an Evacuation – Evacuating Community

During a community evacuation, the Local EMO of the evacuated community remains responsible to appoint a community government spokesperson to communicate with the media and residents throughout the duration of the emergency event. Communications can be accomplished using a combination of the following methods:

  • In-person briefings at the evacuation centre
  • Status/information boards at the evacuation centre
  • Community government website or social media updates
Back to top

After an Evacuation

The Local EMO of the evacuated community must plan for the safe return of residents to the community. This involves ensuring the community is safe and essential services are up and running prior to notifying evacuees to return home.

Please refer to the Community Planning Guide for re-entry after evacuation.

Back to top

EMO Resources

Back to top