Severe weather top of mind as Calgary faces growing list of high-risk hazards and threats
CBC
Extreme temperatures, natural disasters and other severe weather conditions top the City of Calgary's disaster management priority list, while water distribution infrastructure failure has become a higher-risk threat in light of last year's water main break.
An annual disaster risk assessment was presented to the city's emergency management committee by the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) on Wednesday. The report indicates 66 hazards and threats of varying priority levels that Calgary is at risk of. It's the same number as last year's assessment, but the number of high-risk hazards and threats has risen from 16 to 19.
Extreme heat is new to the city's high-risk disaster list, joining extreme cold among the most pressing natural hazards.
"We know that there's a shift in the climate," said Coby Duerr, deputy chief of CEMA.
Duerr highlighted increasing temperatures in Calgary over the last few years, as well as wildfires across Alberta due to hot and dry weather conditions.
Water distribution infrastructure failure was also newly upgraded to high-risk status, largely due to last June's Bearspaw south feeder main break, a situation that led the city to declare a state of local emergency.
The CEMA's list of possible human-induced hazards and threats is topped by active assailants, cyber attacks targeting critical services and infrastructure, mass attacks, mass gathering incidents, and illegal protests or demonstrations.
The highest-risk technological threats are critical or water distribution infrastructure failure, dam breaches of the Bow or Elbow River, and rail incidents.
Extreme temperatures, flooding of the Bow or Elbow River, heavy rainfall, a pandemic, tornadoes and winter storms comprise the list of high-risk natural hazards and threats.
Severe spring and summer weather events are of particular concern for the city, including tornadoes, heavy rainfall, hailstorms, extreme wind and thunderstorms.
Last year was the most expensive year in the country's history for losses stemming from severe weather, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. An August 2024 hailstorm in Calgary resulted in $3 billion in insured losses.
"I think that when we look at it from a climate change perspective, we see that there's a shift, that we see more complex events happening," said Duerr.
"That is happening across our country, and especially in Alberta, as one of those disaster capitals of Canada."
Alberta is a hotspot for tornadoes, which happen 12 to 15 times per year on average, said warning preparedness meteorologist Alysa Pederson during the presentation.
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is getting rid of unlimited mental health benefits for staff, blaming ballooning costs and former administrators for implementing it without proper due diligence or oversight.
Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's TV and film studios and streaming division for $72 billion US, a deal that would hand control of one of Hollywood's most prized and oldest assets to the streaming pioneer that has upended the media industry.
CBC Calgary kicks off its annual Make the Season Kind campaign this morning at Fratello Coffee Roasters.
CBC Newfoundland and Labrador is kicking off its annual holiday campaign, helping to raise money to support local food banks.
If all goes according to plan, at 6 a.m. AT on Saturday people working at the IWK Health Centre will become the test case for a generational change to Nova Scotia’s health-care system.
One month after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced what he called "generational" military spending, New Brunswick’s defence ecosystem is on high alert.
Miranda Mirlycourtois, 34, looks directly at the camera and makes a confession.
Saskatoon city hall says police spending is projected to be $2.6 million over budget this year. That pushes the city into a $1.2-million deficit position, according to a report that will be considered by city council next week.
Students at the University of Regina are days away from deciding whether a newly formed student association should become their official representative body.
All public schools on P.E.I. are closed Friday and thousands of Maritime Electric customers are without power as strong winds create hazardous travel conditions across the province.
Prince Rupert, B.C., residents are celebrating the holidays this year with coastal flair.
In the four years Chelsey Simmonds has worked at the Eva Rothwell Centre, she has seen the need increase every year at the centre’s community food pantry.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.