Canadian cities and emergency planning

[eternallyme]

Watching the horrible floods in Alberta, this made me think...how are other Canadian cities prepared for major disasters? There are many, many possibilities, and every city is vulnerable, from hurricanes in the east to massive earthquakes in the west, floods, tornadoes, wildfires, etc.

So many other nightmare scenarios too (i.e. if the Elie tornado hit downtown Winnipeg instead; if Hurricane Sandy maintained its intensity inland and hit central Canada with full force; if some of the big earthquakes like the Queen Charlotte one last fall hit SW BC instead, etc.)...and all could have easily happened recently too.

[feepa]

Edmonton has this - http://www.edmonton.ca/for_residents...ns-centre.aspx

Alberta has also recently introduce an emergency alert system thats getting a work out now... http://emergencyalert.alberta.ca/

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by feepa

Edmonton has this - http://www.edmonton.ca/for_residents...ns-centre.aspx

Alberta has also recently introduce an emergency alert system thats getting a work out now... http://emergencyalert.alberta.ca/

How prepared are they if a mega-disaster were to hit? How at risk are they?

Overall, I think in Canada, a major earthquake on the BC coast near the Lower Mainland is the worst case scenario - that could cause damage totals that could rival Hurricane Katrina in the US.

[vid]

In 2005, Thunder Bay city council debated whether or not we should develop a plan in case the Sleeping Giant rolled over and caused a tsunami. They decided that it was not the appropriate time for such a study.

Last year, over 1,000 homes in this city flooded. Out of 300 spaces at an evacuation centre located on the edge of the city (more than 8km from the epicentre of the flooding), only one person made use of the centre.

We are less capable of hosting environmental refugees from the far north than many towns of 2,500 people in this region.

In short, Thunder Bay's emergency response measures are crap.

[SaskScraper]

Tornado before touch down west side of Saskatoon. File/Globalnews

Sask emergency preparation awareness from earlier this month..

http://globalnews.ca/news/635841/for...edness-is-key/

[SignalHillHiker]

We're well-prepared for Category 2 and under hurricanes during which people can shelter in their homes and which require no mass evacuations (excluding some neighbourhoods prone to storm surge damage, such as the Lower Battery and Quidi Vidi).

We'll still get lots of damage - siding torn from homes, verandas blown away, trees downed, etc. But that comes with the territory. You can't have tall trees in a foot and a half of soil on solid bedrock and not expect 160 km/hr wind gusts to take them out.

We're relatively well-prepared for major rainfall. I've seen the George Street stairs turned into a waterfall and the damage, city-wide, was still minimal. All the usual suspects flood when it rains heavily - and we've had centuries to make the little adjustments necessary to ensure it flows downhill.

We rarely get earthquakes or tsunamis (last one was in 1929), so I don't believe we're at all prepared for those.

We have absolutely no preparations for tornadoes of which I'm aware.

And that's about all that could conceivably happen here. We're a pretty steady, stable place as far as weather and natural disasters go.

*****

Emergency Preparedness

Although the consequences of various disasters can be similar, knowing the risks in Eastern Newfoundland can help you better prepare. Across Canada, we face a number of hazards, such as floods in many provinces, earthquakes in British Columbia, blizzards in Nunavut and tornadoes in Ontario. In addition to natural disasters, there are other types of risks, such as power outages and industrial or transportation accidents. A more detailed list of hazards specific to Newfoundland and Labrador, click here.

http://www.stjohns.ca/living-st-john...y-preparedness

*****

The following list contains natural risks and hazards that could happen in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Earthquakes
Floods
Wildfires
Chemical releases
Hurricanes
Pandemic influenza
Landslides
Power outages
Severe storms
Storm surges
Tornadoes
Tsunamis

http://www.getprepared.gc.ca/cnt/hzd/rgnl/nl-eng.aspx

[Trevor3]

Stephenville:

We flooded out in 2005 and lost the entire neighbourhood along Blanche Brook, basically the oldest neighbourhood built by civilians in town. Since that time the area has been turned into a large central park with walking trails surrounded by a permanent flood berm, so we're essentially protected from future floods.

When flooding took place the same plan went into action that was used in 2001 during 9/11 flight diversions. Public buildings became shelters, though I can't remember which one's. The College and several schools were used in 2001, I assume the same in 2005. All actions are executed by an emergency response team which includes town council and managers, college administration, government managers (social services, etc...), fire chief and an RCMP representative.

In terms of equipment to handle emergencies, we have a fully serviced professional fire department equipped for both regular and airport emergencies, as well as the Marine Institute's Safety and Emergency Response Training Centre which trains firefighters, search and rescue teams, and a new program called "Emergency Response Management". They house one of the world's most advanced fire trucks which was built for the White House in Washington D.C., and regularly respond to assist local departments when called upon.

Overall, I think we're probably better prepared for a large scale disaster than most places, mostly because we faced 2 in the span of 4 years. Also, an advantage we have over the east coast of Newfoundland is that we actually have a reasonable layer of topsoil, this area was initially settled for farming, so trees stay rooted in the ground and we have far fewer power outages and incidents of property damage as a result.

[Coldrsx]

There was a conference on this in Toronto last week or the week before. We just finished building the Calgary EOC, I suspect we will see more of these given the current inadequacies of many.

[Airboy]

After the Tornadoes in Edmonton the entire Emergency management system was reviewed and updated. As well the weather Radars were all upgraded. Calgary’s EOC, will probably be looked at and copied. Most may not be as grand as Calgary’s but to have a central point for this form of control is essential. I was at the Calgary EOC when they were doing a test and it was interesting to See even BOMA had a seat.

One thing we will definitely see here is the River Basin monitoring system enhanced to include more monitoring stations and better projection tools. This system here is good for downstream warnings but High River projections did not show the massive flooding and the stream flow monitors in the upper basin were not adequately showing the amount of precipitation actually falling.

[Coldrsx]

'As well the weather Radars were all upgraded.'

Doppler!!!