States of local emergency help communities cope with disasters. Here's how they work

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In the last year, Alberta and Saskatchewan have seen their fair share of local emergencies, be it wildfires, drought or flooding.

And as climate change brings more variable weather with bigger storms, more intense droughts and longer wildfire seasons, they will see states of local emergency declared more often. 

So what do these declarations mean?

A state of local emergency gives a municipality powers it doesn't normally have, such as evacuation orders or distribution of essential supplies. 

Because each community has different needs, states of emergency also differ. 

According to the Alberta Emergency Act, local authorities are responsible for their own emergency management, says Barb Gamble, provincial operations centre manager with the Alberta government. 

"The City of Edmonton has a lot more resources than a smaller hamlet would have," Gamble says. "So what would be something that would cause a small hamlet to call a state of local emergency, may not cause Edmonton to call a state of local emergency."

In Alberta, states of local emergency last for seven days (or 90 days if the emergency is related to a pandemic) and then expire or are renewed, according to Gamble. They can also be cancelled at any time. 

Whether a state of local emergency needs to be declared depends on the community in question. 

Gamble uses the example of a forest fire. 

In the example, if a portion of Community X needs to evacuate, a state of local emergency would be declared to assist in the evacuation, she says. 

"State of emergency gives them authority to evacuate folks. So if they don't comply, RCMP or local police can remove them," Gamble says. 

In this case, the local director of emergency management would alert the mayor a state of emergency is needed.