What would you do if you had to evacuate your home (or workplace) on very short notice? What would you take with you, and how could you prepare in advance? Or what if you had to manage without electricity, using supplies on hand? Would you be ready?
Last week Donna Clark of the City of Toronto Office of Emergency Management gave a comprehensive presentation to the West Willowdale Neighbourhood Association on emergency preparedness. It was a lively evening, with neighbours sharing stories of surviving the December 2013 ice storm, and concerns about a recent nearby home explosion and fire.
Ms. Clark stressed how in times of large-scale emergency, we play an important role in our own survival, as municipal services may not reach us for 72 hours. On the flip side, I was impressed with the extent of the city’s emergency plans, including disaster simulation exercises (such as this one in October 2017 at York University).
Here is a summary of useful information Ms. Clark provided.
Exercises:
- Consider severe weather, flooding, power failures, electricity / natural gas disruptions, etc.
- Medication, glasses, passport, cell phone and charger, insurance contact information, etc.
Tips:
If you need to call hydro and don’t have the number handy, you can call 311 (“Toronto at Your Service”) and they will connect you.
Look into having on hand:
- water (bottled)
- crank flashlight and/or mini LED flashlight (I have one like this one from Amazon.ca, which is also great for travelling)
- crank radio with USB charging plug
- a landline telephone not requiring electricity
- contact list printed out
- cans and can opener – corn, tuna, beans, etc.
- nuts, granola, protein bars, etc.
Stay Informed:
Websites:
- City of Toronto www.toronto.ca
- Government of Canada Weather Information www.weatheroffice.gc.ca
- Toronto Hydro Outage Centre outages.torontohydro.com
Twitter accounts to follow:
- Toronto Office of Emergency Management @TorontoOEM
- City of Toronto @TorontoComms
Resources from City of Toronto:
Get Emergency Ready booklet (opens 28-page PDF)
Your 72 Hour Emergency Kit webpage
Get Emergency Ready – At Work booklet (opens 18-page PDF)
Stay safe!
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