Are you prepared to weather a severe storm?
Each year, Emergency Preparedness Week (May 1-7) reminds us that it’s important to be prepared for an emergency. Being prepared means knowing the risks, making a plan and having an emergency kit ready.
The risks and hazards are different depending on where you live. Knowing which are most likely to affect you and your community is the first step in being prepared. Across the watershed, extreme weather events are predicted to increase due to climate change. Rapid and excessive rainfall and high winds can cause property damage from flooding and downed trees. Extended power outages from extreme weather means sump pumps, well water pumps, air conditioners, refrigerators and stoves will stop working.
Get Prepared
You should have everything you need to stay safe and self-sufficient for at least 72 hours in the case of a severe weather event. This includes having a plan for communicating with family, protecting your home and property from wind damage and flooding, and having basic supplies on hand.
Assess your property for potential hazards, like poorly maintained trees and risk of flooding. Keep trees strong and healthy to protect them and your property from wind and ice damage. Use this helpful Home Flood Protection Check-up to determine whether your home is at risk of flooding and what you can do to reduce it. Check our regulation mapping to learn if your property may have sensitive or hazard prone areas subject to regulation. Development in these areas without a permit could jeopardize safety and your property.
Have an emergency kit ready for you and your family and make sure everyone knows where it is. Your emergency kit should include food, water, candles and matches, battery chargers (for cellphones or other battery-powered items), flashlights, blankets and basic hygiene supplies. Ensure fire extinguishers are accessible and consider having a generator installed to ensure sump pumps keep running.
Learn more at getprepared.gc.ca and ontario.ca/beprepared.
Meet Your Countryside Stewardship Team
Alison Qua-Enoo
Senior Coordinator, Rural Residential Outreach
Alison has been with CVC for over 15 years. As a teenager, she realized that a thriving community depended on a healthy natural environment. She worked at CVC on three summer student contracts before moving into a full-time position helping rural landowners across the watershed improve their properties for human and environmental health and well-being.
When she’s not inspiring landowners to create positive change on their properties, Alison spends most of her time with her two children. She’s also working part-time towards a graduate certificate in emergency management. In the few quiet moments between children and school, she enjoys reading, gardening, painting and hiking.
If you want to create change in your community, Alison recommends connecting with the people and natural environment around you. “Find an issue that matters to you and your community,” Alison says. “Then set achievable goals and identify actions you can take that will make a difference in that area. You don’t need to change the world in a day. Small actions can have big results over time.”
Upcoming Events and Activities
Nature Invaders Scavenger Hunt
Join landowners from across the Credit River Watershed in an interactive invasive species scavenger hunt. Discover whether you have invasive species on your property using an easy and fun plant identification app. Get access to great resources and expert advice to help you learn what you can do to stop the spread of invasive species on your property and in your community. Landowners who register and participate will be entered into a draw for a free native plant prize pack!
Use iNaturalist to discover invasive species on your property. Register for two free webinars to increase your knowledge about invasive species in the watershed and find out what you should do if you have them on your property.
Join the Scavenger Hunt
June 24-July 31, 2022
Sincerely,
Your Countryside Stewardship Team