Fraser Valley – Team Rubicon Canada, a veteran-led disaster response charity, has landed in the Fraser Valley. The team of highly skilled disaster response experts are assisting the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) with damage assessments and disaster mapping following the recent atmospheric river-related flooding and landslides. Team Rubicon Canada received a Request for Assistance on November 20 from FVRD to provide urgent assistance with incident stabilization, damage assessments, and disaster mapping. The team, which is led by veterans of the military, emergency services as well as skilled civilians, will work with local authorities and residents.
The first priority for Team Rubicon Canada is to travel to areas in the Regional District under Evacuation Orders. Residents have evacuated from these areas for their safety and Team Rubicon Canada will take all safety precautions when entering the communities to conduct Rapid Damage Assessments on buildings and structures. Information gathered from these assessments is being provided to the FVRD’s Emergency Operations Centre.
“The recent storms dropped devastating amounts of rain across Southern B.C., leaving many communities severely flooded, and families displaced,” said Bryan Riddell, CEO of Team Rubicon Canada. “Our veteran-led teams of volunteers are ready to put their disaster response skills to work to help impacted areas in the Fraser Valley stabilize and recover as quickly as possible.”
It is anticipated that when the Regional District shifts from a response phase into a recovery phase after the storms, the team will work with first responders and skilled emergency management volunteers to deploy to help clean out flooded homes and remove debris in affected communities in the electoral areas.
To help support Team Rubicon Canada by donating or volunteering, visit Team-Rubicon.ca.
