Coping with extreme weather events and natural disasters

Extreme weather events and natural disasters have hit southern B.C. hard this season. Already compounded by a difficult year with wildfires, oppressive heat, and the pandemic, it’s hard to not feel overwhelmed. 

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Here are some resources that may be helpful during this time: 

Employee and Family Assistance Program: LifeWorks 

If you and your family have been impacted by these extreme weather events, UBC's Employee Family Assistance Program LifeWorks is available 24/7 to provide resources and support. These supports include resources to help you deal with feelings of worry, grief and loss, and assist you to find resources to cope with caregiving and legal, insurance and financial issues. Call the Care Access Centre at 1-866-424-0770to get started or visit our EFAP page to access LifeWorks online.  

Additional LifeWorks resources that you may find helpful: 

• Toolkit: Natural Disaster Toolkit 

• Article: Managing Stress after a Natural Disaster 

• Podcast: Building Resilience after a Disaster 

• For leaders: Supporting Employees Affected by a Natural Disaster  

Connecting with your community 

Other ways to take care of yourself, loved ones, and to manage the stress related to natural disasters include: 

• Seek support through family and friends, talk about how you have been feeling with others. 

• Practice community care, reach out to help others if you can or invite and include people you know in self-care practices.  

Self-care 

• Allow space for grief and loss. Take care of yourself with rest, give yourself permission to re-adapt and re-prioritize. 

• If it feels like too much, take a break from media coverage and limit your exposure to reporting on the disaster. 

• Ensure you have emergency kits at home and in any vehicles.

• If planning travel outside local areas, communicate departure and expected arrival times and routes with a safety contact.  

There will be long-term effects because of these recent extreme weather events, and there will be a long road to recovery, with rebuilding efforts hampered by more storms impacting the Pacific Northwest in the days and months ahead. If we can find opportunities to seek help, improve our self-care, and contribute and connect with our community we can find ways to be resilient.  

In the meantime, take care and stay safe.