Many Tartu apartment buildings unprepared for a crisis
Apartment associations in and around the city of Tartu are currently largely ill-prepared to handle crises or emergencies. The Rescue Board has made it a priority to improve their overall preparedness.
Ropka Elamu manages more than 340 apartment buildings in and around Estonia's second-largest city, and board member Rivo Soo admitted that the vast majority of these buildings — at least 95 percent of them — aren't equipped to handle a crisis.
"Meaning the apartment building's basements, stairwells and everything are exactly the same as they were five years ago," he explained.
Property management company Kvatro Kinnisvarahaldus manages around 200 properties in Tartu and the surrounding area. According to Hannes Tõugjas, head of the company's southern region, most of the apartment buildings they manage aren't prepared for crises either.
He added that among the buildings they manage, crisis awareness varies from one apartment association to another.
"There are buildings where residents are very aware of the issue; they've applied for the support and are actively taking the lead on this themselves," Tõugjas noted. "And then there are buildings that know nothing about it. So it really is the responsibility of the state and the local government to raise that awareness. And of course, the Rescue Board is also involved here as a state agency."
At Ropka Elamu, Soo said that apartment associations have been left to handle most of the work on crisis preparedness.
"The city hasn't been fully involved — like saying, 'Hey, let's get this crisis preparedness sorted out now,' or 'Let's carry out this process all the way so that apartment buildings are guaranteed shelters' or other necessary arrangements," he explained.
Tõugjas pointed out that increasing crisis awareness is also held back by passivity among apartment association members.
"The Rescue Board and city government hosted joint info sessions, which I know our colleagues attended," he said. "But among the buildings we manage, I know only a small number of residents showed up — just a handful."
Trilingual info available
Evelin Uibokand, the City of Tartu's crisis coordinator, said the city government is actively working to improve crisis awareness among residents. However, she noted that boosting this awareness also requires people to take initiative themselves.
"Of course, one could say that the information hasn't reached them, but we can't always deliver the full package of information, figuratively speaking, right to everyone's doorstep," Uibokand said.
"A lot of it comes down to communication, and we really do encourage Tartu residents to submit their suggestions to us," she continued. "If something's missing, we'll certainly come up with a solution for it."
This September and October, the city will host eight training sessions for Tartu residents, where the Rescue Board and city officials will share tips on improving crisis preparedness in apartment buildings. Participation in this training is free.
The Ole valmis! website and app provides thorough and useful information, tips, checklists and contact info for various potential crisis or emergency situations and is available in Estonian, English and Russian.
Trilingual information is also available on the Rescue Board homepage.
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Editor: Aleksander Krjukov, Aili Vahtla
