Emergency Planning & Response Committee (EPARC)

Since 2014, the HSCA Flood Task Force has been made a permanent committee, and is now known as the Emergency Planning and Response Committee (EPARC). Three subcommittees operate under EPARC: the Community Response and Resiliency and Advocacy Divisions are currently inactive. Volunteers with the Infrastructure (Technical) Division continue to help advocate for our community Read below for details on EPARC’s mandate.

Community Emergency Plan

The Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Emergency Plan (CEP) is designed to complement Calgary’s Municipal Plan and provide targeted information specific to Hillhurst Sunnyside residents. It should be used as a companion to your Household Emergency Action Plan.

Please view/download the document at the link below:

About

In June 2013, Southern Alberta experienced a 1 in 100 year event that resulted in one of the largest and the most expensive floods in Alberta’s history. Nearly half of the homes in Sunnyside experienced water damage, and the entire community was evacuated and kept out of their homes for days.

With incredible support from Calgarians our community rallied quickly, setting up a ‘Crisis Café’ to coordinate services and provide critical support for our neighbours. In collaboration with the City of Calgary, community members spearheaded a volunteer and service coordination effort at the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association, where the Hillhurst Sunnyside Flood Task Force was born.

Over several months the work the Flood Task Force undertook required breaking up into several smaller committees, each focusing on specific aspects of the flood recovery and preparedness processes. These included the Community Action Response Task Force (CART), the Emergency Response Task Force, the Technical Task Force and the Advocacy Task Force. Following several months of work and the realization that emergency management requires an ongoing commitment, HSCA’s Board of Directors decided to make the Flood Task Force a permanent committee. Moving forward, the Flood Task Force will be operating as the Emergency Planning and Response Committee (EPARC). EPARC has three sub-committees: the Community Response and Resiliency Division, the Infrastructure Division, and the Advocacy Division.

Thank you to our countless neighbours and the many Calgarians who responded to our need – you are forever the Flood and Community Heroes!

Community Response and Resiliency Division or CRRD (inactive)

The Community Response and Resiliency Division (CRRD) aims to improve emergency management in Hillhurst Sunnyside, and to more broadly build our community’s resilience. This sub-committee is made up of a number of residents and support agencies, including but not limited to the Red Cross, Calgary Family Services, Alberta Health Services and Community and Neighbourhood Services. Together this group works to ensure that the needs of Hillhurst Sunnyside residents recovering from the 2013 Flood are known and being met, and that residents are aware of existing programs and services available to them.

At the heart of their work is the development of the Community Leaders Program, which operates under the idea of ‘neighbours helping neighbours’. Resident volunteers work together to improve communications and share valuable information, while building relationships with those who live in their area. Volunteers receive a variety of training opportunities to ensure that they are best prepared.

As part of their attempt to build community resilience, the CRRD holds community events to bring people together and share experiences, while also learning about emergency management. They have also undertaken a number of initiatives such as creating the bench that commemorates the Crisis Café site, located at 5th St. and 7th Ave. NW, completing a Community Assessment Report, and partnering with Trickster Theatre on their Sunnyside Flood Scrapbook and Theatre Project.

Additionally, some of the volunteers on the CRRD have put a lot of time and effort into studying what happened to lead to the flooding experienced last year in Sunnyside so that those lessons could be learned and changes could be made in 2014, and in this process has been meeting with the City of Calgary’s Water Services, and several utilities companies.
The Community Response and Resiliency Division (CRRD) aims to improve emergency management in Hillhurst Sunnyside, and to more broadly build our community’s resilience. This sub-committee is made up of a number of residents and support agencies, including but not limited to the Red Cross, Calgary Family Services, Alberta Health Services and Community and Neighbourhood Services. Together this group works to ensure that the needs of Hillhurst Sunnyside residents recovering from the 2013 Flood are known and being met, and that residents are aware of existing programs and services available to them.

Infrastructure Division (active and recruiting)

The Infrastructure Division works in partnership with the City of Calgary’s Water Resources in an effort to understand how to best improve the water infrastructure in Sunnyside and in neighbouring communities that impact Sunnyside. They also engage with relevant provincial officials to understand and advocate for necessary changes to improve water management along the Bow River. When relevant, the Infrastructure Division organizes community information events to ensure that valuable information about potential changes are shared with Hillhurst Sunnyside residents.

Advocacy Division (Inactive)

The Advocacy Division works in collaboration with the other sub-committees and various agencies to advocate on behalf of Hillhurst Sunnyside residents with respect to flood mitigation projects, bringing attention to the unique circumstances and needs of Hillhurst Sunnyside, and other matters as they arise.

City of Calgary Flood Newsletter

Subscribe to the City of Calgary’s Flood Newsletter at the button below. The City will endeavour to resume their flood season e-newsletter in late April and will be moving to a weekly format to keep citizens informed moving through the season.

Contact

For more information, or if you’re interested in volunteering with the Emergency Planning and Response Committee in any capacity, please contact Lisa Chong, Community Planning & Engagement Coordinator at lisa.c@hsca.ca so we may help redirect your inquiry.