The Quake Cottage is in Port Alberni! Check it out today!

It will be at Echo Centre today from 10AM to 4PM!

It’s fun, AND educational!  I experienced it last Friday at VIU, check out the craziness:

For a slightly (ok a lot) more entertaining look… check out Joan Rivers trying it out!

OK, so it’s not *that* crazy, but it is fun and the people running it will tell you all about just how tame it actually is compared to the real thing.  The machine only moves 7 inches relatively gently, the big one would move you more than a foot, very suddenly, and for a much longer period of time! Yikes!

Province announces Level 3 Drought on Vancouver Island.

On Monday, the Provincial Government indicated Vancouver Island is at Level 3 Drought conditions.  You can see their “drought info portal” here.

Here is the imagery you have likely seen already with the Island in orange indicating Level 3.

Screen Shot 2016-05-31 at 8.02.00 AM

A little more detail from the site reveals that the streamflow levels are lowest in the province here on the Island.  It is particularly bad on the West and South Island.

Screen Shot 2016-05-31 at 8.02.13 AM

The chart below shows the comparison with last year on a roughly monthly basis though careful that you look at the dates as the 2016 chart is ‘larger’ than the 2015 one.

BC_Drought_Levels_2015 BC_Drought_Levels_May_27_2016

You’ll see that compared to last year nearly the entire province is at level 2 for the last week of May and Vancouver Island is at Level 3 as it was last year so despite the rains we had over the winter it seems we are still recovering from last year and so we are back into drought conditions quicker than normal.

This also jives with what I have heard recently from representatives the local forest companies.  They say the trees in the forest are still recovering from stress from last years drought and some will be dying due to that stress.  The wood is unable to receive the precipitation that has fallen because of how it changes under extreme conditions so the forest is already very dry.

I have not heard how our water supplies are in the City of Port Alberni but we are not yet on restrictions.  However, it is always good to be in the habit of conserving your water use.

Have a great Tuesday!

 

 

 

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