Our next disaster ?

My unit was put on alert for a possible deployment as aid to civil power today in anticipation of flooding that MAY happen. Since joining the Army I have been deployed along with a friend of mine here on the forum to the Manitoba floods, the Quebec ice storms and the forest fires in British Columbia on such homeland ops. Basically rescuing people who refused to evacuate in time or other such related tasks. I got in quite an interesting discussion about global warming and the effects we are seeing on the weather today and it got me wondering. I wonder what’s next for Canada in terms of a disaster. Last year I was driving through Manitoba when hail stones the size of softballs crushed grain silos, flattened farm house roofs and destroyed a lot of crops. This climate change s*&t is getting dammed serious in my little opinion. It’s true we haven’t had to face anything in Canada like hurricane Katrina yet, but it seems to me like it’s only a matter of time before climate change causes something BIG to happen here. I sure hope to hell people are more prepared for it but it seems to me like people are so smug and complacent around here that they honestly believe that that sort of thing will never happen here in Canada. I have been checking out my rescue gear / tools that I carry for such operations to make sure it’s all good to go in case of a bug out for such a mission . I know I have one friend here on this forum who feels the same way and I have the funny feeling we will be employed in some sort of disaster mission(again) sooner than later. I hope I am only being paranoid but this weird weather has me worried……………………something in the air just dosent feel right. Any other Canadian on this forum feel this way or should I just crack open another beer and relax?

No I am not Canadian although I've broken ice with quite a few. I am a Southerner, by the Grace of God!!!!

That "feeling" is being felt all over the world by observant people who think for themselves.

There's not much to do meanwhile, so you might as well crack open a Moosehead, relax, and enjoy life until it's time to do something.

Its getting worse alright , you talk about emergency planning up here and all you get is a glassy eyed stare, they figure it cant happen here were Canadian, or that were so far from the magor centers that it wont affect us
All you can do is prepare for you and your family and hope for the best
then all you can do is hope that the next one is big enough to get their attention and keep it, with out it being so big that its a magor disaster

Yukon

Whatwas done in the '70s when the "mini Ice Age" was encroaching on the planet (quick, stockpile socks, jackets and blankets!)? We were all doomed at that point too. As a whole I don't buy into the whole climate change thing (quick, stockpile socks, jackets and blankets!). I am in the camp of the "cyclic nature of the Universe" bunch. Refer to the mini Ice Age of the '70s. I would look at the disasters that typically happen where you are and overprepare for them. Socks, jackets and the like. Make, check, and recheck your plans and preparations. Afterwhich, sit back with a few friends, slide your toques back a bit, and sip a Hamm's (or whatever).

Just media noise. Floods happen. Floods will always happen. I've done a few rescues from floods, it's scary, and you feel somewhat resentful of people who were given ample opportunity to get out, but didn't.

We'll have more of them. I've posted here that the 2 things you need to prepare most for are economic crisis and climate change.

Something BIG happens all the time. Your BIG deal up there in Canada may well be destruction of farmland from water issues.

Some are saying that the world economy, particularly the American econonmy, is built on a house of cards much like it was in the 20's of the last century. I heard the other day on Market Place, a business related program on NPR, that many believe that the current downturn will be the worst since the 30's. Some have even said that this downturn will be as bad or worse than the Great Depression. The Great Depression, depending on which source you use, lasted from 1929 to 1941. That's roughly a dozen years. Hope you've got a really really good survival kit.

I dont believe in the end of the world crap, but it seems we will be in for more frequent extreme weather/events that will mess things up for us in the future. floods, fires, tornadoes and the like. Places that have never seen snow before are getting snow, places with snow are getting warm. who knows what will happen if that keeps up. I guess if you look at it that way there isnt much we can do except get ready for whatever happens the best way possible. My unit always gears up for just in case of floods senarios every year, but NEVER this early. The east is getting dumped on with feet of snow and in the west it is melting faster than it can drain off. As for the economy....I dont know. Canada's is booming now but it will take a turn for the worst eventually. If it does fail and everything goes to hell maybe I will need to prep the old riot gear as well.

The worst part is, I can be as prepared as I want but when the SHTF again my loved ones will be left alone while I have to go help other people who couldnt be bothered to do any prep themselves. but, like all firefighters, police, military etc I guess that is all part of the job. As much as I would like to bug in with the loved ones during an emergency it just wont be in the cards for me.

I just don't see the economy going that bad that quick. It isn't in the best interest of the power-mongers, and as evidenced on monday, they will take steps to hedge against it. It will get worse, but I think the effect will be a lot more gradual. When the media keeps screaming the sky is falling and then it doesn't, the tendency is for the public to get used to things looking like they are going to tank, and not getting so alarmist.

I realized that I have spent waaaaay too many hours thinking about preparedness an tinkering my kits in 2007 and decided to take a step back in 2008. I've stopped purchasing knives, quit learning funky paracord knots, stopped looking at water filters, maybe i'm just getting old... Even if it was kind of a hobby for me, i'm taking a break from it all. :P

You might want to crack open another beer, for sure, and consider the possible disaster/events that could take place in your area. Keep it as real as possible.

Store some water, some food, lighting gear (candles, lanterns, headlamps, whatever), warm clothing, some means of generating heat (fireplace or a propane heater maybe), and calmly wait it out.

Whatever floats your boat.

I just don't think that it's worth my time, money and energy to prepare for anything worse. Instead, i'm putting those hours in training (and expanding) the search and rescue team I am responsible for, which is more satisfying and... at the end of the day, more useful.

...a business related program on NPR,...

That is suspect in and of itself.

lol

Actually Market Place isn't too bad. They have stock brokers and tresurary officials and such -- real people in the biz -- frequently on the show.

Still, bland news attracts no listeners ...

I agree with you on the climate change thing and I do remember the "new ice age crisis". Most of the media hype isn't really driven by the data. The temperature may be warming, but I'd place the likely cause to be solar fluctuations and long-term cyclical events rather than human factors. The increases in CO2 probably will be offset by enhanced plant growth, perhaps helping future agriculture. Besides, the climate is never static, but always changing and fluctuating (in Texas, it changes by the minute).

Catastrophic, sudden climate changes are unlikely. The usual tornadoes, blizzards, ice storms, heat waves, floods thunderstorms, hurricanes that make up weather will always be with us.

BMT, I don't think you're paranoid to take notice of trends in the weather.

We're certainly noticing some trends on the Canadian Prairies. It seems like we're getting more of everything -- longer dry periods and drought cycles, wetter and longer wet periods, more high wind/large hail/tornado type storms, and so on.

They're mostly the same weather events ... just supersized in strength and duration. For that reason they can wreak havoc on ecosystems and wildlife, and on agriculture and people. That is certainly reason for thoughtful people to take notice.

A few things I'm working on:
- increasing my water catchment, to keep the garden going during hot, dry spells
- contemplating some sort of ground-loop piping for summer air cooling in the house
- thinking about reinforcing and stocking a room in the basement as a tornado shelter
- going over the house insurance policy carefully, to make sure the loopholes are plugged, even if it costs more
- and, I'm trying to be a lot more efficient with my energy use (seems a responsible course of action across the board).

Beyond that? Crack a beer and keep an eye on the sky.