B.C. announces additional $180M to help communities prepare for natural disasters

Local governments and First Nations in BritishColumbia are getting more support to prepare for the risk of natural disasters related to climate change.

The Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness saysit will add $180 million to support projects that help communitiesprepare for and mitigate the effects of natural disasters.

Premier David Eby said the additional funds are coming out of theprovince's $5.7 billion budget surplus, bringing the government's total contributionto the community emergency preparedness fund to$369 million since its inception in 2017

"Our governmentbelieves strongly that we should be supporting communitiesand addressing deficits that could make communities less livable down the road," he said.

Thegovernment's Community Emergency Preparedness Fund has previously supported projects that include a dike in Merritt, public cooling infrastructure in Victoria and tsunami evacuation planning in Tofino.

It says it will also now provide a one-stop online platform for communities and First Nations to review flood, wildfire, weather and other hazardous events data that had previously been spread over various government websites.

The program includes supports for communities to prepare for the effects of extreme cold and heat.

The government says since 2017, local governments and First Nations have received funds for more than 1,300 projects to prepare for natural disasters and climate-related emergencies.

Eby said British Columbianshave disproportionately experienced the effects of climate change with recent floods, wildfires and extreme weather.