Yeah that was crazy, bunch of people digging shelters over there now

One of them touched down about 5 minutes west of me - tons of damage. Reminded me of the Edmonton in the 80s that I lived through, although luckily nobody was killed in these ones. My area lost power overnight only. I could not believe the people that chucked everything out after 8 hrs outage, and were whining about lack of food & water after only a day..I tried to tell my neighbors not to open their freezers but not everyone listened. I had friends nearby that lost power for the whole weekend and were storing stuff in my frig/freezer. The good thing is that they are now more interested in my emerg preparedness advice 😉

apologize for lenghty note but there really is a great deal to be learnt from recent tornado and huge impact on prepper community.

While I missed the Ottawa tornado out of the country), I did try and follow the event. A few observations.

People say a few days to a week’s hydro outage won’t be a big deal, because neighbors will help each other and there is always something in the pantry that will keep you going for many days.

While sounding true, I still believe we would see some very angry confrontations in a true city wide blackout on day two. I say this for the below reasons.

To put event in perspective, it was small and localised event in a large city. Numbers of people affected were in the large scheme of things minor. Dramatic for some ( very few in context of entire small city) and visually upsetting for outside spectators but event itself inflicted in the true sense, no real damage. YET!

I read news articles and watched clips of people lining up to be fed by community volunteers. This on the day after the event! Why would people line up for soup and sandwiches when there is soup, sandwiches, crackers, cans of tuna.... in one’s house? Where they cheap and by bumming meals they extended their own food supply, needing or enjoying the attention (psychotic or just like standing around chatting about what they just experienced)?

So, maybe they really do not have much food in the pantry, or didn’t want to use theirs or had some need for social contact. But with food in the fridge to eat and canned goods easily consumed cold, it makes me believe my two points about no food or some “social” need to obtain food is in play.

So if minor outages brings people out looking for food within 12-24 hours of missing power, what can one expect if the entire city went down?

Farmgal indicated people had fires in their home due to candle use! Sad yet try and imagine what a city would look like if the entire grid went down and we were going on past 48 hours and it was cold or rainging!

Another tidbit of news was how the food banks were running low on food and from what I just heard the other day, are still trying to top things up!

Why were they running low on food when in theory, grocery stores would have been driving over all the perishables?

Grocery stores shelves were in some case empty as well and needing replenishing! Hoarding?

Cell towers were not damaged but guess what? They had no power so were unable to operate! Talk about a genius plan. All our cell phones, and related access to media and no backup generators on key cell towers. Pure genius. How many young or even older people have a landline these days?

I remember someone mentioning how the youth will have social media to help get organised. Well not is their little phone is dead! Wonder how the group we see out at G8 type protests will do when they have no phone and their university fridge is out of food. I am sure they will remain peaceful and comply with orders to stay off the streets, I mean why would they would go out and riot.

According to my daughter, people from the city were coming out to the country to buy gas and food and local shelves were starting to see the impact. This, less around 15 hours after lights went out in small event! She had 13 middle and senior aged city folks show up for food 24 hours later. Went home but came out for a warm meal! Really, no food? They had natural gas, BBQ’s, so why not cook up your own meal? Fragile “upstairs” a bit perhaps?

All this chaos for a piddly power outage of in most cases between 12-24 hours and in limited number of households. Note that water, natural gas and roads were ok, weather was not freezing nor 30 C.

Queensway Carleton hospital was apparently running on gen power for six days. What would be situation if the other two large hospitals in Ottawa were down as well? Over flow from emergencies would go where? I didn’t see any military tents up and based on experience with SARS scare a few years back, I wouldn’t hold out to much hope for them coming to the rescue in any meaningful manner. Before anyone gets upset, no insults being sent to troops, just what I perceive as insufficient resources being available for a 1 -5 million person city disaster!.

In security, the human element is the most dangerous and weakest. I note people standing in lines for food, driving to outlying areas for food and gas. Gov shut down for a day so people could stay off roads that still had no lights. If people need to line up for food after missing breakfast, I would really hate to see their mental state after missing four meals.

I have mentioned the impact of legal and non-legal drugs on People’s ability to function. I wonder what impact that had during recent outage. I haven’t heard anything but would be willing to bet money that it did.

None of the above is meant to negate the effect of damage to people’s homes, property or injury. I am simply using it as an example of how people will not be able to cope, either physically or mentally with any serious event. Where would these people standing in line go or do on day two if the entire cities power was off in January?

If suffering from some form of mental illness or very strong personal need for social contact and they are either missing their meds or simply unable to cope, how will they do if their neighbors are not manning the food line because they too are without power? Will they cocoon in their house and catch it on fire, steal...?

A city worker acquaintance of my daughters had no gas in his truck because he didn’t keep it properly ranked up and his father had to bring some over from a garage that had power. How would that city worker, police officer, medic, nurse, hydro tech....... all get to work and try and maintain order, if due to poor planning on a normal day, they had no fuel? I wonder how many folks are on the road this minute with 1/8 to maybe ¼ a tank of gas?

I did a Y2K project and I received blank stares from important entity when I asked, how staff will get in if power is out. No plan to bring them in via private bus or keep them working safely and efficiently in command centre. Glossing over thing in the spirit of “we can handle this because we are good orderly people”, is in my opinion, extremely naive. The citizen of today is not the citizen of WW2 and the London bombing. Very, very different animal and way of living.

I have heard people say, no problem, there’s food you can eat in the fridge, pantry etc. That is true for some but based on this little outage, I would most certainly not want to assume that all will fit into that description. If fires were happening from from candles being used for light, people in line for food after 15 hours, city workers can’t get into work, cell towers are down due to lack of power, critical hydro infrastructure has no spare parts and people fleeing the city for supplies occur after a few hours of a very, very limited hydro outage is an indication, I really don’t hold much hope for a peaceful city wide outage after one or two days.

I have a hunch that individuals or mags will be in full operational mode within 48 hours. I am not claiming mass murder and roaming zombie gangs pillaging the countryside. I am however saying that it would be safe to expect you’re needing to activate ones plans and be ready to have unwelcome visitors seeking assistance. They can be family, friendly acquaintances or others looking to liberate a gen purring away, syphon fuel from cars, tractors... We had generators being stolen that were powering up local phone switches on day two of 98 ice storm so I know of what I speak. Bell had to hire two guards 24/7 to keep them fueled and watch over them. All will need a plan to cope with theft!

If stuck in a distant city, I suggest volunteering with law enforcement, any military… be a gopher or provide any of your specialised skills but stay close to those with some degree of power or protection.

If you’re a member of a fraternal or other type group/ ATV, snowmobile, horticultural…, make sure you know who and how to contact them before you visit a city. This will permit some degree of group type assistance and through their local network, likely lead you to further assistance. Very important to know who you can reach out to and to do so very fast.

So ya, Ottawa power outage clearly demonstrates we are nowhere near the level of very minimal preparedness we should be at after the ice storm, Sars, cyber hacks and terrorist type concerns. This in our nation’s capital and with all the supposed brain power we have in operating in a disaster.

Ottawa is a sleepy little city and has nowhere near the gang, inner city issues, and road congestions as Toronto, montreal or Vancouver. Toronto is also locked in by a lake on one side and surrounding suburbs to the other. Folks in TO would be in one heck of a mess trying to get out. The cascading exodus of the core and impact on each outer rings of people and then those rings collapsing under pressure from core folks and subsequent desire to move further away would be a real hoot to see unfold.

We had city urchins seeking assistance and we are separated by some decent farm land but were still easy access via highway. “Toronto to Oakville, Mississauga, Scarborough, Vaughn, Pickering etc.” overflow would happen faster and with more confrontation.

Guessing some will say, we are Canadians and we will remain civil and that’s a possibility. I just don’t see it happening with a large outage and with the absence of historical evidence to indicate the gov has a good grip on things. All open source info and it just needs people to do an honest appraisal and to look at ALL the huge gaps to start to get an idea on how in prepared we are as a city or nation for any true multi day disruption. A weeks outage would likely see marshal law and all that it can entail.

So, only two options. Either one has a bug out location or can shelter safely in place. Bon chance!

One of them touched down about 5 minutes west of me - tons of damage. Reminded me of the Edmonton in the 80s that I lived through, although luckily nobody was killed in these ones. My area lost power overnight only. I could not believe the people that chucked everything out after 8 hrs outage, and were whining about lack of food & water after only a day..I tried to tell my neighbors not to open their freezers but not everyone listened. I had friends nearby that lost power for the whole weekend and were storing stuff in my frig/freezer. The good thing is that they are now more interested in my emerg preparedness advice 😉

I don't remember the Edmonton tornado lol too young then, i try to "chase" the odd funnel cloud but i'm not very good at it, moves a lot faster than i expected. I need to get in some way prepared, guess thats why i'm here i guess i'm not at all lol although tornados would be one of the better scenarios :p

Hi, ok, just a quicker note and I will need to get back to it..

So the news encouraged folks to travel, they announced what outlying towns had power, food, gas and they would tell the folks were to go for meals, how long the line ups were, if you could only get one burger or one breakfast bun per person and so forth.

I think it would have been different if folks have been asked to "stay home" and they had talked about using BBQ using up their food etc. instead, I listened and read with a puzzled look on my face as folks were directed outward.

The second thing of interest was the folks that used active social media to move things around.. folks opened up their freezers, fridges for food/meds and their showers for total strangers.. yes you read that right.. folks said, here is my address, I have power and running water, come for a hot coffee, a shower..

So did all the gyms, that was interesting.. they opened their change rooms and showers for anyone to come and get cleaned up.

I think the thing that surprised me was the focus on throw all that food away.. not only did they not get encouraged to stay home and learn how to eat at home, they then were told to clean everything out and dumpsters were brought in for all the food to be brought out and thrown out. No talk that pickled food would be fine or that depending, cooking it would make it safe again depending.

I got a lot of private emails and even photos sent from friends asking me if its still ice cold in my freezer, do I have to throw it out? Some things did need to be thrown out, some did not, and some needed to be cooked and then would be safe again to be eaten or canned. I was truly surprised at the fact that canning with propane to preserve the food hit so few folks radar.

I am glad that we have seen the community come together in such great ways to help those in need that were effected.

Hi, ok, just a quicker note and I will need to get back to it..

So the news encouraged folks to travel, they announced what outlying towns had power, food, gas and they would tell the folks were to go for meals, how long the line ups were, if you could only get one burger or one breakfast bun per person and so forth.

I think it would have been different if folks have been asked to "stay home" and they had talked about using BBQ using up their food etc. instead, I listened and read with a puzzled look on my face as folks were directed outward.

The second thing of interest was the folks that used active social media to move things around.. folks opened up their freezers, fridges for food/meds and their showers for total strangers.. yes you read that right.. folks said, here is my address, I have power and running water, come for a hot coffee, a shower..

So did all the gyms, that was interesting.. they opened their change rooms and showers for anyone to come and get cleaned up.

I think the thing that surprised me was the focus on throw all that food away.. not only did they not get encouraged to stay home and learn how to eat at home, they then were told to clean everything out and dumpsters were brought in for all the food to be brought out and thrown out. No talk that pickled food would be fine or that depending, cooking it would make it safe again depending.

I got a lot of private emails and even photos sent from friends asking me if its still ice cold in my freezer, do I have to throw it out? Some things did need to be thrown out, some did not, and some needed to be cooked and then would be safe again to be eaten or canned. I was truly surprised at the fact that canning with propane to preserve the food hit so few folks radar.

I am glad that we have seen the community come together in such great ways to help those in need that were effected.

As I was out of town, I missed the fun and all the media. Interesting about telling people to flee versus, simply staying home and being comfortable in their own home and eating food in fridge... all the city urchins that went to daughters had fully functional gas stove!

I offered some friends our home but they stayed put, but because some of these folks have “special” skill sets 😎 , I will be chatting with them and looking at firming up mutual support options.

Per other posts about meds.. During the outage, a very strong farm neighbour and fellow hunter of mine, went down for nine days in the hospital with fluid around his lungs. Now here was a man I would have been teaming up with in a serious emergency and yet he would have been out of commission. Stuff happens and just when you need it, you can easily lose a human resource. I need to ramp up my network and make it tighter. They are there but I feel they need to understand that they can get here without needing to ask. Same for their wives. All my friends are strong and skilled, but I still feel I need to do more so we can work things more efficiently.

Hi, ok, just a quicker note and I will need to get back to it..

So the news encouraged folks to travel, they announced what outlying towns had power, food, gas and they would tell the folks were to go for meals, how long the line ups were, if you could only get one burger or one breakfast bun per person and so forth.

I think it would have been different if folks have been asked to "stay home" and they had talked about using BBQ using up their food etc. instead, I listened and read with a puzzled look on my face as folks were directed outward.

The second thing of interest was the folks that used active social media to move things around.. folks opened up their freezers, fridges for food/meds and their showers for total strangers.. yes you read that right.. folks said, here is my address, I have power and running water, come for a hot coffee, a shower..

So did all the gyms, that was interesting.. they opened their change rooms and showers for anyone to come and get cleaned up.

I think the thing that surprised me was the focus on throw all that food away.. not only did they not get encouraged to stay home and learn how to eat at home, they then were told to clean everything out and dumpsters were brought in for all the food to be brought out and thrown out. No talk that pickled food would be fine or that depending, cooking it would make it safe again depending.

I got a lot of private emails and even photos sent from friends asking me if its still ice cold in my freezer, do I have to throw it out? Some things did need to be thrown out, some did not, and some needed to be cooked and then would be safe again to be eaten or canned. I was truly surprised at the fact that canning with propane to preserve the food hit so few folks radar.

I am glad that we have seen the community come together in such great ways to help those in need that were effected.

Follow up to your note about people being directed outwards.
I know the US is different, but when discussing emergencies with folks in DC, it was the common theme that people would be forming road blocks in their communities and only allowing locals in. Outsiders would be turned away or escorted through! This in the context of a full out SARS type biological event but still the same concept of keeping trouble out.

I know, a tad different approach but boy, given a serious event, I would prefer that to a city trying to dump their burden on country population.

Ottawa had no legit reason to propose this and it sets a bad precedence!

Again, I say, the cities are woefully unprepared for even a minor event. Not good at all.

That amazes me. Why encourage people to be prepared for 72 hours (as if that's enough) of food and water and then tell them to throw-out what they have? Obviously another screw-up...

That amazes me. Why encourage people to be prepared for 72 hours (as if that's enough) of food and water and then tell them to throw-out what they have? Obviously another screw-up...

Yeppers, pretty lame concept. Best thing is the takeaway from it and all the events we see occurring and reinforced to me many years ago. There ain’t no cavalry coming for you. Your own your own.

Why tell them to throw the food away? Because no one wants to be responsible for a food poisoning epidemic... If you’re the government - and you want to remain the government - you play it safe. That’s what they did, right or wrong.

Helicopilot nailed it on the head! No power, All the food to be on the safe side was to be thrown away, I wish I had written it down but it was two days for the fridge and anything over three plus days for your freezers. Unless topped up by outside power source.

As for the bins, they didn't want anyone holding on to the spoiled food in regular garbage which is why they did the bigger food, the stores threw it all way, even those that tried some things, like parking fridge trucks in the parking lot and moving some things threw most of their food away as did all the food banks..

We may not understand it.. but it was useful information to have.. because if this is remembered by the general population.. their first thought will be throw it away, if the trucks are not running for refill this would compound the problem of available food and fast.

Helicopilot nailed it on the head! No power, All the food to be on the safe side was to be thrown away, I wish I had written it down but it was two days for the fridge and anything over three plus days for your freezers. Unless topped up by outside power source.

As for the bins, they didn't want anyone holding on to the spoiled food in regular garbage which is why they did the bigger food, the stores threw it all way, even those that tried some things, like parking fridge trucks in the parking lot and moving some things threw most of their food away as did all the food banks..

We may not understand it.. but it was useful information to have.. because if this is remembered by the general population.. their first thought will be throw it away, if the trucks are not running for refill this would compound the problem of available food and fast.

Going to be some really surprised folks when that truck doesn’t appear. Will be fun times.

Why tell them to throw the food away? Because no one wants to be responsible for a food poisoning epidemic... If you’re the government - and you want to remain the government - you play it safe. That’s what they did, right or wrong.

...And the result should be to vote them out of office. Much of the food is safe for some time, others require thorough cooking before it's safe to eat. There is always a danger of food poisoning.

The onus is on the person eating it to choose what is safe to eat and what isn't. Obviously food that is sold cannot be rotten however fresh meat consumed without adequate preparation can also cause medical problems.

They sell raw chicken (fresh) at the store. The onus is on the customer to prepare it for safe consumption. No one is covering themselves by taking it off-the=shelf and throwing it out.

Eating suspect food is part of survival. Sometimes you have to do your best, take a chance, or starve to death...

Wayne, I wouldn’t have thrown my food away, I’m just saying that government entities just prefer playing things safe. They better off dole out a few $100 to each disaster affected people (again, good for re-election) then risk having everyone survive multiple tornadoes but having subsequent deaths in over crowded hospitals over food-borne illnesses.