Emergencies in Ontario

• Ontario averages about eleven tornadoes per year.  In 1985, several tornadoes swept through southern Ontario and, as a result, eight people in the Barrie area lost their lives.  In 1990, several tornadoes swept through southern Ontario causing $1,200,000 in damages to property and crops.
  
  
• The place you sleep can be the most dangerous.  Over 80% of fire deaths occur in places people sleep (houses, motels, apartments, etc.).  Prepare your home by ensuring functioning carbon monoxide and smoke detectors are in place near all sleeping areas.
  
  
• Exposure to cold weather puts additional strain on your heart.  The second highest cause of winter storm related deaths are heart attacks as a result of activities such as shovelling snow and pushing cars out of snow banks.  Use care and dress appropriately for the weather when working outside in the cold.  Remember to listen to your body and go inside to get warm and rest when you feel strained.
  
  
• In January 1999, two severe snowstorms systems paralyzed the City of Toronto, dumping a total of one hundred and eighteen centimetres of snow and causing damages estimated at $122,000,000.`
  
  
• The 1998 ice storm in eastern Ontario resulted in an economic loss of close to $7,000,000,000.  During this time sixty six Ontario communities declared emergencies, and many others were adversely affected and required additional resources to deal with the emergency.
  
  
• In 1944, a fierce blizzard accompanied by high winds swept through Toronto, killing twenty-one people and leaving the city paralyzed for days.
  
  
• The Mississauga train derailment in 1979 resulted in 250,000 people being evacuated from their homes.
  
  
• Just about any region in Canada is at risk for earthquakes.  Earthquakes generally strike in the western and eastern provinces, however any province is susceptible.  In 1944 the area of Cornwall, Ontario experienced an earthquake that measured 5.6 on the Richter Scale.  In 1935, an earthquake hit Ontario with a magnitude of 6.2.  Ontario has also recently experienced earthquakes which were measured at a smaller scale.
  
  
• Hurricanes do strike Ontario.  When Hurricane Hazel swept through Ontario in 1954, it caused the worst flooding in the Toronto area in over 200 years.  Eighty one people died and twenty bridges were destroyed.
  
  
• Estimates vary, but from 1918-1919 the Spanish influenza pandemic likely killed an estimated 50,000,000 people worldwide.  From 1957-1958 the Asian influenza pandemic killed an estimated 2,000,000 people worldwide.  From 1968-1969 the Hong Kong influenza pandemic killed an estimated 1,000,000 people worldwide.  Recently, the risk of Avian Flu is causing worry about another influenza pandemic.
  
  

Did you know that . . .

Most people can survive up to

• 4 minutes without air
• 4 hours without heat
• 4 days without water
• 4 weeks without food

This is the 4 x 4 rule.  Don't be caught without these essentials.  Make sure you are prepared to sustain yourself and your family for 72 hours by making an emergency kit.

Be prepared, not scared.