Updated July 7

Major storms and emergencies are occurring far more often now than in the past.  HRM's emergency operations Centre was activated 64 times last year, four times the average of the previous years. 

The types of emergencies are changing too, with floods, fires, hurricanes and other major storms all taking place in rapid succession.

In 2024, the Canadian hurricane centre "expects a very active hurricane season" and US NOAA "predicts above-normal 2024 Atlantic hurricane season."

Essential Preparedness Top 3

1. You should take steps to stay informed and up-to-date about emergencies, specifically, sign up for Halifax Alert. This system can email, text, or call you, or do all three, so you don't need a computer or to use data to access it. Issues from winter parking bans and up are communicated using this system. (Only the biggest emergencies use the Alert Ready phone alert system, which can take longer to get a message out on).
2. If an emergency happens in your community, it may take emergency workers some time to reach you. You should be prepared to take care of yourself and your family for a minimum of 72 hours.
3. Voluntary Vulnerable Persons Registry (VVPR) is a voluntary, self-referral list only for residents of the Halifax Regional Municipality who may require support during emergency situations - please have a look and determine if you or anyone you know should sign up.

Other Emergency Resources

• HRM has advice about additional steps you can consider for emergency preparedness.
• Firesmart Canada has advice for homeowners about how to protect your home from fire risk.
• The government of Canada has advice on being "Flood Ready".

During an emergency

• Continue to call 911 in an emergency (life or death)
• Call 311 for downed trees and flooding
• Call NSPI for power for downed lines 877-428-6004
• Think about how you can help before and after a storm - cleaning catch basins, looking in on the elderly and vulnerable, and helping others get prepared, etc.
• Help your neighbours, lend a hand, be kind, and be patient.

Preparing for a Major Storm

A few years ago I "crowd-sourced" our neighbours' best ideas for being prepared for a major storm and an extended period with no power.

All of these suggestions are made while recognizing not everyone has the equipment/appliances/resources to act on every one of these ideas.  These ideas are presented for you to “do as you are able”.

Clean:

• Do laundry, especially kids' clothes, towels, and underwear
• Make sure all your dishes are done
• Take a shower
• Clean and tidy the room where you will mostly hang out if the power goes out. This makes for a better experience if you are waiting out the storm.

Food and drink:

• Pre-grind your whole-bean coffee (if you are fancy, that is)
• Cook and bake in preparation, for example, hard-boiled eggs
• Canned & shelf-stable (no refrigeration) food and snacks
• Put ice packs or bottles of water or plastic containers in the freezer, and deep freeze if you have one. The idea is to fill all available space now so it freezes solid and will stay cold longer.
• Store BBQ-able meat in the kitchen freezer so won’t have to open the deep freeze.
• Make the fridge and freezer as cold as possible so it stays colder longer
• Make a big pot of soup/stew/chowder that can be re-heated on a wood stove/bbq/Coleman
• Ideally, have some way to cook that does not require electricity – a stove for camping, a BBQ, etc
• If you are on a well, lots and lots of buckets of water.  Halifax has backup generators at both Halifax Water pumping stations, so it is very unlikely city water will fail.
• Check pet supply food

Life with no power:

• Have some flashlights, fresh batteries, and/or tea lights, but be careful with candles as they can be a fire hazard
• Tether any BBQ to the railing & tie down patio furniture or bring it indoors/shed
• If you keep your freezer(s) closed, things will stay frozen for 24+ hours. If power is out longer than that, please don’t throw stuff away. Fire up the BBQ or camp stove and cook stuff for you and your community. Or give stuff away to neighbours who can cook it.
• Freeze a container of water and put a quarter on top of it in your freezer and you can tell how much things thawed if that power goes out.
• Have lots of things downloaded and printed in case school goes down
• A full tank of gas/full charge in the car/vehicle
• Get some cash out in case there is an ATM or internet disruption.
• Do not use your powerless stove as a worktop/storage surface, when the power comes on history has shown lots of stoves have burners left turned on and the burners set the stuff on fire.

Be Prepared:

• Consider unplugging appliances (microwaves etc) and other electronics (TVs etc) if power is flickering.
• When there is a power outage, with or without a storm, and then power is restored, there could be a "power surge", which could (but probably not) damage electrical and electronic equipment. Most equipment is designed to withstand such surges. Solar panels are especially robust in terms of withstanding such surges.
• Some solar installers recommend turning off the solar panel at the cut-off switch as a storm rolls in.
• Some others recommended turning off the power at the main breaker in the electrical panel to disconnect everything from NS Power until the storm passes