Natural Disasters In Canada

All over the world hundreds of disasters happen every year, no matter how big or how small they are, they can effect a community somewhere and can cause mutilation. A disaster is defined as “a natural event such as a flood, earthquake, or hurricane that causes great damage or loss of life” (“Disaster”, n.d) and from these disasters we get many risks. Risks are what come from a natural disaster, for instance a hurricane. A hurricane is “a rotating low-pressure weather system that has organized thunderstorms but no fronts” (“Canadian Hurricane Centre”, 2013). A hurricane can cause serious danger, harm and loss of either personal belongings or life. Hurricane Hazel, a storm that hit the Toronto are, was a huge storm for Canada which many Canadians

did not predict and caused severe damage and many losses.
When hurricane Hazel hit the greater Toronto area, it caused great damage that changed many people’s lives.

For starters, the flood its self-left damages of approximately $152 million dollars to $760 million dollars of the total cumulative damages in Ontario (Shrubsole, Kreutzwiser, Mitchell, Dickinson & Joy, 2013). Besides “these large direct monetary losses associated with Hurricane Hazel, more than 80 people were killed during the resulting flooding” (Shrubsole et al, 2013). A riverine close by, flooded causing lots of damage to the homes nearby. This was the Humber River located in Southern Ontario which caused many catastrophes. Hurricane Hazel also caused many structural damages. Many trailer parks were flooded and homes were swept away with the water, leaving hundreds homeless. Many houses were flooded and roofs were closing in, not making it a safe place to hid (Gifford, 2004). A swing bridge, which was found over a community, was also destroyed but the cables from the bridge held firm (Gifford, 2004). As the heavy rain flooded the area more than four thousand families were found homeless because many homes were destroyed. The damages were not as severe as other storms but this hurricane did cause some distress to Canada and caused an amount of damage to the

community.
Hurricane Hazel started on a normal Friday night and many Canadians did not see this hurricane coming. In less than twenty four hours more than eight inches of rain flooded the greater Toronto area and destroyed many homes and lives. Hurricane Hazel started in the Caribbean and went all the way to the Golden Horseshoe before hitting Southern Ontario a couple days later (Gifford, 2004). The hurricane drew power from the heated waters in the Atlantic Ocean and headed towards the Caribbean, where the stormed roared up to fifty miles per hour and then passed between Grenada and Carriacou making its way over to Haiti (Gifford, 2004). After arriving in Haiti, Hurricane Hazel killed nearly one thousand people and flatted homes in sight (Gifford, 2004). Once it built up enough power and energy it made its way towards Canada, Toronto specifically. Heavy rain hit Toronto the night of October 16th, which was called by many forecast stations that day. According to Environment Canada, “rainfall hit that early morning in Southern Ontario associated with Hurricane Hazel causing a very intense rainfall, which caused the severe flooding (2013). A thing to note about this Hurricane was that it was not solely Hazel that caused all the damage. “Residents recalled that the two weeks leading up to Hazel were the wettest they could remember with more than a month and a half’s worth of rain in the 16 days before Hazel” (“Canadian Hurricane Centre”, 2013). Once the intense rain hit, it caused mayhem in Toronto and people did not know what to do or how to recover from this.
Vulnerability in a community or country deals with attributes of people or a community that might increase the danger from a given danger. Having vulnerability in an area can cause serious damage or problems for a community when a disaster strikes. Where Hurricane Hazel hit, many homes were on the water, which was the Humber River. Being on the water like this exposes you to the dangers from the water like flooding, molding or erosion of the home, even bad drinking water. When Hurricane Hazel hit, Toronto had a great deal of resilience due to the amount of resources they had to help them when the disaster occurred. Toronto had Red Cross, Salvation Army and the Royal Regiment organizations helping communities and trying to clean up Hurricane Hazel’s mess (Gifford, 2004). All organizations were ready when the hurricane hit and was able to help for a speedy recovery. There were some weaknesses with homes in the communities. There were many mobile homes in the area that ended up being washed away with debris and water and roofs and windows were not protected (Gifford, 2004). This all caused great damage when it easily could have been avoided. As things were being washed away with the water, depending on what it was it could have be saved by being strapped down or removed from someone’s home and put somewhere, where it would not blow away or be washed up. Because of the flooding in Toronto, Ontario placed policies to prevent home construction and other development projects in ravines or floodplains, like the Humber river, to avoid flooding in homes (“Origins of the Humber Watershed”,2008). When it comes to disasters like these there are many things one community can do to help avoid and resist harm and knowing what to do will help everyone in the long run.
When the hurricane hit Ontario, a lot of the flooding came from the Humber River.

There are many petitions and laws around this river because it is considered one of the forty three AOCs around the Great Lakes (Humber River Fisheries Management Plan, 2005). The government created this plan to help save the habitat and environment in this area. There are three main goals and actions, which are, self-sustaining fishery, rehabilitation of fish and wildlife habitat, and protect and restore fish and wildlife habitat (Humber River Fisheries Management Plan, 2005). This will allow wildlife to grow in a healthy environment and help save many species that might be living in that area. There whole goal in this plan is to create “healthy aquatic ecosystems that provide sustainable benefits, contributing to society's present and future requirements for a high-quality environment, wholesome food, employment and income, recreational activity and cultural heritage” (Humber River Fisheries Management Plan, 2005). This will help the environment, economy and community to grow and prosper. The Humber River was destroyed because of the hurricane so being able to do something in this area and to be able to grow food and make more jobs available to people will be a great thing for Ontario. This is an intervening condition because it deals with the environment and the social aspects of life, like jobs and food distribution. I believe this plan will be a big help and hopefully restore the Humber

River to its best.
When Hurricane Hazel destroyed homes, broke bridges and flooded the Toronto area people were confused on what to do and how to avoid this next time. The most beneficial adjustment strategy a community could use is an evacuation plan, but more specifically planning in general for a hurricane. According to Environment Canada, it is important to have a Hurricane Action Plan, because it comes with many tips and ways to protect yourself like, informing yourself on what a hurricane is, securing your home to avoid damage, creating an emergency kit and finding accurate information sources (“Canadian Hurricane Centre”, 2013). All of these techniques can help you when a hurricane hits again and communities will be prepared and informed that way there is no concern about what to do next. Also, developing warning systems for people to use when a storm is coming. People will then have time to respond if warned ahead of time and will have time to move or prepare. Today, most people have the weather on their phone or computer and weather networks now send warnings about severe weather and explain what is going to happen or what is about to come. According to the National Hurricane Centre, “a warning requires immediate action. This means a weather hazard is imminent”, which some people do not understand and choose not to evacuate or move from their homes, which has been a problem in the past (“Hurricane Preparedness - Watches & Warnings”, 1965). Also, something that should be implemented is some type of coastal development restrictions. This would avoid flooding of homes, loss of homes, and even loss of people’s lives. Having homes away from water will save a lot of people and homes and will reduce dangers or damages in that area. After the Hurricane hit, Red Cross and the Salvation Army offered there assistances cleaning up any mess from the hurricane and also offered donations for any repairs needed (Gifford, 2004). Canada had these resources and used them in a time of need and they were more than happy to help. This is one strategy that communities can use to cope with a disaster like this. Having people to help you overcome a disaster or any size will help make things a lot people and the support is always welcomed in a time of need. Overall, these safety precautions would save a lot of time and energy. Being prepared and ready for any natural disaster would be very beneficial to any community.
To conclude, Hurricane Hazel was a disaster that hit Toronto hard and was not expected by many. There was a lot of help from organizations and just the community in general which helped with organizing and sorting everything out. Some lives were lost and homes were ruined but the people in that area learned from their mistakes and now know what to do for when another hurricane happens to hit. When a hurricane hits anywhere, communities should listen to a warning signs, have an action plan and most importantly try to stay safe and out of any danger. That means removing anything from your yard or moving your family to protect yourselves from dangers like this. If people knew what to do and had a plan, more lives could be saved and less would be damaged. Land can be fixed and regrown but a life cannot.