It’s critical that you have all the pieces in place to be self-sufficient for 72 hours in case of an emergency.
That’s the message from North Hastings Fire Chief and Bancroft Community Emergency Management Coordinator Pat Hoover. This comes as communities across Ontario are recognizing Emergency Preparedness Week from May 6th to the 12th. Hoover says you need to be prepared for an emergency by having a kit ready that will allow you to be self-sufficient for up to 72 hours.
Hoover says the onus is on you to be self-sufficient for 72 hours before the municipality steps in to help. You should also have a go-bag prepared in case you have to evacuate your home.
This year, you are also being reminded about a new emergency public alerting system being tested in Canada. Hoover says you may have received a test-emergency text today at around 1:55pm. He says these will become more frequent in the future if there is an emergency.
Hoover says it’s important to be ready for emergencies because we’re facing different weather than we have in the past. Those storms are wreaking havoc on our infrastructure. He says this past weekend’s hydro outages, and the communication outages the weekend before, really drive that point home.
You can find out more about Emergency Preparedness Week in Ontario by clicking here.