Berkley Escarpment, site of the 2005 landslide in the District of North Vancouver. credit: District of North Vancouver

“On January 19, 2005, heavy rainfall triggered a landslide on the Berkley Escarpment in North Vancouver, destroying two homes at the base of the slope, seriously injuring one person, and killing another. In response to the slide, the District of North Vancouver’s municipal council commissioned a landslide risk assessment and mitigation program,” write public safety section manager Fiona Dercole of the District of North Vancouver (DNV) and director Dorit Mason of North Shore Emergency Management.

DNV’s comprehensive Natural Hazards Management Program was initiated in 2007, following the Berkley landslide, to assess natural hazards and develop long-term management strategies. The program uses a framework to structure steps in the process of managing and communicating risk. Risk tolerance criteria, risk assessments, public awareness, public services, community planning procedures, stormwater infrastructure, and emergency response are components of the program, which is overseen by the Engineering division.

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DNV’s efforts to understand, communicate, and reduce risk were recognized in 2011 by the United Nation’s Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction. The municipality is one of the United Nation’s Role Model Cities, committed to sharing lessons learned and participating in local, regional, and national efforts to build resilience to natural hazards. To read more, see “Landslide Risk Management in North Vancouver,” in the Fall 2016 issue of Input, page 12.

More information about how DNV manages hazards

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