Alberta flood report outlines how province can improve disaster response

A report outlining how the Alberta government can better respond to large scale natural disasters like the devastating flooding in2013has been mostly accepted by the provincial government.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS |Rachel Notley assassination chatter 'needs to stop,' Wildrose leader says as Bill 6 anger mounts
• MORE CALGARY NEWS |Nenshi claims victory as Uber and city pledge to work together

The government says it is acting upon 15 of the 16 recommendations but have accepted pre-qualifying vendors in principle only.

The June flooding caused damage in excess of $5 billion, required the evacuation of more than 125,000 residents and claimed the lives of five Albertans.

The reportby Calgary-based MNP LLPoutlines 16 ways the province could better approach disasters of this scale.

Those recommendations cover areas like updating the Alberta Emergency Plan, implementing an emergency social services framework, updating the Disaster Recovery Program (DRP),supporting mental and physicalhealth initiatives forgovernment employeesandcreating a provincial operations centre to better co-ordinate emergency services.

The Progressive Conservative government at the time was slammed for the fragmented way the Disaster Recovery Program was rolled out, with critics at the time calling for greater accountability and transparency.