Helping Coastal Communities Prepare
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Mitigation are the things that you do in order to avoid problems well into the future. For example, making sure that you’ve cleared trees back a certain distance from your house if you’re in an area that’s prone to wildfires. (see the Firesmart pages for this kind of thing).
My first reaction to the burn ban until October 15th was not one of surprise. Disappointment perhaps, but not surprise. It struck me as a heavy-handed, emotional response to a few bad actors who mess things up for the rest Read More …
The wildfire in the Ostrea Lake area highlights both the strengths and weaknesses in our response to these events. This post aims to highlight some of the strengths and areas for improvement. We learn from each event to reinforce good Read More …
Update 17 AUG 2025 The season is off to a bit of a start. Erin, currently coming towards the seaboard, is looking to swing north and will (hopefully) pass south southeast of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Of note is that Read More …
The Challenge A home represents one of the most significant investments made by someone. That home needs to withstand the increasingly difficult weather. This rings particularly true for those homes being built as part of the efforts to reduce homelessness Read More …
Recent announcements by the Province of Nova Scotia that it will create an Emergency Management Department and “Nova Scotia Guard” look promising but will require more than simply generating a list of volunteers. This post isn’t going to get into Read More …
The Issue The decision not to proclaim or otherwise enact the Coastal Protection Act pushes the responsibility for setting rules to localities. For much of the Eastern Shore, this involves Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). While I won’t get into the Read More …
Various forms of “cutbacks” and “right-sizing” over the past few years have reduced our ability to get timely and relevant information. This is becoming very evident as we track weather forecasting along the coast and current forecasts available through the Read More …
We need to be careful that we don’t become over-reliant on any infrastructure. Becoming too reliant on the electrical grid is one of those situations. We may want to take a page from Hydro Quebec’s book and consider the use Read More …
Background On Saturday, Albertans received an alert that they needed to reduce power. A combination of exceptionally high demand, a loss of imports, and a sudden decrease in power from renewable sources led to the situation. We need to look Read More …
In the Critical Infrastructure Protection and Critical Infrastructure Assurance domains you will hear a lot about layers of defence. You can tailor this approach to being ready in this context as well. The layers are fairly simple and work out Read More …