Question Description
Overview: For this assignment you will develop a hazard preparedness plan. The project will
focus on a specific natural hazard that you might face in British Columbia.1 You have already
identified a hazard that you would like to focus on in assignment 2 and now need to develop a
detailed preparedness plan describing the actions you will take to prepare for such an event.
You will consider how such a hazard might affect you in your everyday life and explain what
steps you would take before, during and after the occurrence of such a hazard to minimize its risk
impacts. Although there will be similarities in the natural hazards faced, each individual
preparedness plan will be unique in respect of describing the geographic risk environment (e.g.
the specific neighbourhood you live in or places you frequently visit) and your personal risk
profile (e.g. household arrangements, circumstances that impact susceptibility or capacity, or
activities you engage in that might amplify risk).
Learning outcomes
In completing this hazard preparedness project students will be able to:
Instructions
Your hazard preparedness plan will be completed in four key steps as follows. Use headings and
sub-headings within your plan and note that page numbers provide a guide to the amount of text
required for each section (assuming 12pt font, 1.5 spacing), any images would be additional.
Summary of hazard and personal risk impact statement (~1-1.5 pages): In the introduction to
your project you should provide a summary of the hazard and outline how this will impact you
and your specific community. For this part of the assignment, you may draw upon or expand on
the information that you compiled for Assignment 2 (Local Hazard Assessment). Your hazard
summary should provide key information such as the type of hazard you are focusing on, why
this is potential threat to the area you live in and what type of hazard scenario you are preparing
for. For example, in the case of an earthquake you might explain that you are preparing for
scenario of a megathrust earthquake over above 9 magnitude. or for floods, a 100-year flood risk
scenario. Your risk assessment will build upon part 3 of your local hazard assessment
assignment to clearly outline the risks that you will face in your specific community from such a
1 If you are currently living elsewhere it is fine to focus on a hazard in that local community.
GEOG 210 Hazard Preparedness Plan
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hazard event. You should mention here a range of potential hazard outcomes. For example, if
your primary focus is an earthquake this would not only produce ground shaking and structural
damage but might also trigger a landslide if you live in an area of steep slopes, or it might
generate a tsunami risk if you live on low-lying land near the coast. Each hazard will produce
risks specific to a particular location. Make sure you do a thorough search in exploring likely
hazard impacts in your community. This will enable you to identify relative risk exposure and
susceptibility in relation to specific locations and you can later apply this information in your
hazard plan. For example, if some areas are more likely to be impacted by liquefaction in an
earthquake you might want to avoid this location, or if a particular road or highway is likely to
be exposed to flooding or debris floods this would influence your evacuation options. In
describing the local geographic risk, you may wish to include maps/images.
Detailed hazard action plan (~3-4 pages): In the main part of your assignment you will outline
the steps that you will take to be prepared for your hazard and in response to its occurrence. You
need to address steps that you would take before, during and after your hypothetical hazard
event. In researching this step, you should refer to documents on hazard preparedness and
identify only those steps that are relevant to your specific hazard and personal situation. In the
resources section below, links to some general hazard preparedness resources for Canada and
British Columbia are given to get you started in thinking through some of the key things to
consider. However, it is important that you also consult hazard preparedness resources relevant
to the specific hazard you are focusing on and to the particular area you live in (e.g. Surrey,
North Vancouver, Burnaby, etc.). For example, it is not enough to say you will identify
evacuation routes or locate a safe place to shelter; you need to identify such routes or places in
your local area, and you might even think about including maps to show these. You will also
need to modify your list to consider the different settings and situations where you are exposed to
hazards and should be specific about the steps you are taking in relation to each hazard scenario.
Some tips for developing you plan are listed below:
useful to cope with the specific risks and disruptions likely to be encountered.
others in your household.
when you are at home, work, on campus or during recreational activities.
where you would get support or reconnect with family.
that could have been taken in such cases.
will also discuss this in the next review session, and you should have a summary of steps
by this point to elicit feedback on your plan from others.
GEOG 210 Hazard Preparedness Plan
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Personal Emergency Kit (~1 page): Compile an emergency kit of items that you will need during
your hazard event. You should include an image for each item and a brief description of why you
need this item or how you intend to use it in the event of a hazard occurring. This kit should not
simply be copied from another source but should be personalized for your own use in relation to
the hazard scenarios you have identified. In the past some students have chosen to actually put
together a kit and photograph this with an accompanying description, while others have compiled
individual images from other sources and added their own description. Either option in fine.
Infographic/ poster (~1 page): Prepare a visual summary of your key hazard preparedness steps.
Think of this like a public information poster advising people in your local community of the
hazard threat and giving very clear directions about key actions they should take before, during
and after this event. There are lots of examples from emergency planning agencies that will give
you some inspiration, but this should be your own original work and should be written in your
own words. If you copy a poster from another source this will not be awarded any marks. There
are a number of free online infographic applications you can use to develop your visual summary
and make it look professional (e.g. Piktochart, Canva). A hand-drawn poster is also fine if you
want to get creative. The key thing is to clearly relay your message and demonstrate what you
have learned about hazard preparedness in a concise and effective way. Your poster should be
both informative and eye-catching! Once you have prepared your poster you can either copy it
into the main document or submit it as a separate file to the eLearn folder.
Assignment format and references
The project should be prepared as follows:
Useful Resources
The following resources may be useful to get you started on your preparedness plan, but you will
need to find further resources related to your specific hazard and local community. You should
not just replicate what is in these documents by copying the text directly without modifying it to
your own hazard situation and scenario.
Your Emergency Preparedness Guide, 2012, Public Safety Canada:
https://www.getprepared.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/yp…
Prepared B.C. Website, Government of British Columbia
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-responserecovery/
preparedbc
GEOG 210 Hazard Preparedness Plan
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Grading Rubric
The assignment is marked out of 20 points. Submissions will be evaluated using the general
course grading rubric (see eLearn) and in line with the specific project grading criteria (see
below). Marks will be deducted for partial completion of work or late submissions. Marks will
be deducted for poorly formatted work and for grammatical and spelling errors. Zero marks will
be given for work that is copied from other sources, or from other students, and this will be very
carefully checked!
Elements Assessed competencies Marks
Step 1 Concise summary of the natural hazard, including why it occurs in
the region, and the likely magnitude and frequency of such an event.
2
Accurate assessment personal risk impacts (exposure, vulnerability)
related to living arrangements, local environment, activities, etc.
3
Step 2 Hazard action plan is comprehensive, including before, during and
after steps, and shows consideration of multiple hazard scenarios.
3
Hazard plan is well-adapted to reflect personal situations and local
geographic settings rather than representing a generalised plan
3
Demonstrates has undertaken in-depth research on emergency
planning in their local community drawing on relevant sources.
3
Step 3 Emergency kit is detailed, personalised and each item is clearly
displayed with the purpose described.
3
Step 4 Quality, originality and visual effectiveness of poster in concisely
conveying key hazard response steps.
3
TOTAL 20 pts
