The Village of Zeballos, Strathcona Regional District, and the Ehattesaht/Chinehkint First Nation released a joint statement on Oct. 9 regarding three shipping containers being broken into at the Ehatis Tsunami Evacuation Site on Oct. 7.
The statement says it is evident that heavy-duty machinery was involved due to the damage on the containers.
"One goal of the regional emergency program has been to stockpile mass care supplies in communities, such as freeze-dried food, blankets, shelters, and canned water. These caches are meant to complement, not replace, the emergency provisions and supplies that each household and visitor also stockpiles to ensure their readiness in the event that supply chains are disrupted due to disaster," reads the statement.
"We condemn these break-ins as these actions not only waste tax-payer dollars, but risk decreasing the resiliency of our communities to be resilient towards disasters."
According to the statement, this is the third break-in since the beginning of the year, with the last two taking place at the Zeballos Tsunami Evacuation Site. Only a small-scale generator has been deemed stolen in the three incidents.
"The feasibility and cost of implementing additional loss-reduction measures at each site are being examined," concludes the statement.
If anyone has information, they can contact the Port McNeill RCMP at 250-956-4441, referencing file number 2025-1348.
