Don't underestimate Mother Nature

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Canadians worried about personal safety, property damage

If you’re like most Canadians, you’re concerned about your personal and family safety when it comes to severe weather and the potential property damage severe weather can cause.

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According to First Onsite Property Restoration’s annual Weather and Property Survey conducted in association with Angus Reid Forum, 79 per cent of Canadians are worried about their personal and family safety when it comes to severe weather and the potential property damages that weather can cause.

“Canada is increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather and summer storms and is the world’s second most tornado-hit nation after the U.S.,” says Jim Mandeville, senior vice president of First Onsite Property Restoration, an emergency response planning, mitigation and reconstruction service provider.

“Businesses, homeowners and property managers should not underestimate the power of the wind and water threat when storm warnings are issued.” 

Also, according to the survey, 75 per cent of Ontarians – slightly more than the national average of 73 per cent – are worried about climate change and the potential impacts surrounding that change.

“There has been an increased frequency of tornadoes in Ontario over the past 20 years, according to Environment Canada,” says Curtis Azevedo, national estimate desk and quality assurance manager with First Onsite. “The most common areas in Canada for tornadoes are Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba and the southern parts of those provinces specifically.”

(Tornado season is most climactic between the months of April and September, with the strongest winds typically peaking in June and July, First Onsite reports. In southern Ontario, the average lightning season runs from the middle of March to November.)

The survey also found 63 per cent of Canadians fear having to leave their home or community due to severe weather, 72 per cent are worried about the cost of major renovations and repairs, 60 per cent are worried about the level of their insurance coverage and 64 per cent are concerned about their level of preparedness in the event of a disaster.

Severe storm warnings, such as thunderstorm warnings, should be taken seriously. “Thunderstorms can come with lightning, which can cause electrical power surges or fire risk,” says Azevedo.

“There’s hail, tornadoes, gusty winds – all of which can cause significant property damage, whether that’s hail damage to your roof, missing shingles from winds, or debris and everything that gets turned around from high-speed winds from tornadoes.”

He offers these tips to prepare for severe weather:

• Take in outdoor furniture and equipment. “If you have ample time, you want to clear brush and debris from around your property, ensuring that anything that’s not secured to the ground is cleaned up and put into your building or structure.”
• Unplug electrical items and use surge protectors on high value electronics. “For example, plugging your TV into a surge protector can protect it from lightning strikes.”
• Shutter windows and doors whenever possible. “Closing blinds and curtains will help limit glass shatter throughout the property, which is particularly important in high-wind situations.”
• Have a first aid kit on hand.
• Take cover immediately on the lowest floor of the building in the event of a tornado warning.

“As a preventative step, ensure your property is kept clean by trimming overgrown and dead branches from trees,” Azevedo says. “If you can, keeping everything 10 feet or greater away from the building can really help with limiting potential for fire spread and things like that.”

He also recommends keeping a small emergency kit on hand. “I personally use a small fireproof and waterproof safe to store things like passports, essential documents, a couple of family photos and some high value items so in the event an evacuation, you can grab a single box and be comfortable leaving.”

If your property sustains severe damage, he recommends making calls to shut off your utilities, so gas and electricity aren’t sent to your property. “It can help limit damages and prevent them from getting worse.”

In the event of structural damage, Azevedo advises calling your insurance company and a professional restoration company. “Both will typically send out representatives to the site to do a full investigation utilizing specialty equipment and professional contractors and ensure that all damages are captured,” he says.

“From that point, emergency contractors or yourselves should remove debris, board up windows and entrance points and ensure the property is kept secure to mitigate damages, whether it’s water, fire, wind, hail or environmental damage.

“Professional remediation guidance is critical to make sure everything is captured. We will assess the structure and contents and belongings, provide estimates and ultimately get things prepared for service to have the property restored and rebuilt.”

Weather fears

First Onsite Property Restoration’s annual Weather and Property Survey explores Canada’s top catastrophic weather fears and asks Canadians about threats to their property during severe weather events.

This year’s survey found:

• 60 per cent fear severe rains and flooding
• 50 per cent are worried about tornadoes, winds and severe storms
• 23 per cent are concerned about landslides/mudslides
• 28 per cent are worried about hurricanes or tropical storms
• 73 per cent are concerned about weather related to climate change