IceStorm 98 Study

Methodology

The study was conceived and directed by Dr. Stewart Fyfe, a retired political studies professor at Queen's University. Professor Yvan Gagnon of the Royal Military College, Kingston was originally Co-Director of the project. Unfortunately he was hospitalized with a high fever and his participation was limited to joining in some of the military interviews and the project design. Dr. Fyfe hired a project manager (Mary Purcell), an executive assistant, eight interviewers, and a computer specialist to help complete the study.

Thirteen interviews were completed by fifteen grade four to seven students at St. Joseph Elementary School in Prescott. Two of the interviews were deemed worthy of inclusion in the main study (Bruce Wylie, CFJR radio in Brockville and Bruce Froats, Ontario Hydro) and can be found on the CD. A summary of the St. Joseph’s School participation in the project is also included on the CD.

Each interviewer was responsible for particular municipalities and/or topic areas. In addition to the ten municipalities, interviews were also conducted with: the military; the media; farmers; a store owner; provincial government staff; and staff from Queen’s University, Bell Canada, Ontario Hydro, the Ontario Provincial Police, and various social service agencies including the Red Cross, Salvation Army, St. John’s Ambulance, and local Health Units.

A series of questions was prepared for interviewers to use (see attached), but they posed questions of their own as well. Each interview was audio taped, except in one instance where the interviewee objected. Written statements based on the tapes were prepared. The statements are not verbatim transcripts, but rather an attempt to capture some of the flavor of the interview as well as the substantive information.

The interviews and statements vary in quality and quantity, but provide a useful overview of how emergency and other personnel responded during the Emergency. Many of the interviews make compelling reading.

A comprehensive set of newspaper clippings was obtained from local papers, together with various articles from out of town papers. Also collected were post-storm reports, (approximately 25), photographs from various sources, and several videos. Some of the post-storm reports were prepared by the interviewees; others by organizations such as Statistics Canada and Ontario Hydro.

The original intent of the study was simply to gather information for others to use and analyze. However, with the quality and quantity of information exceeding expectations, it soon became apparent that the many lessons in emergency preparedness and response contained in the information should be published so others could learn from the experiences of the interviewees.

Further funding from HRDC has resulted in the production of this CD ROM which contains: the interview statements; two reports – one titled “Lessons in Emergency Preparedness and Response”, the other “Emergency Preparedness and Response Issues”; summaries of the interview responses from the City of Kingston, the City of Brockville / United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Queen’s University, and the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority; a listing of the material collected during the course of the study; a list of all the people interviewed; a list of Acronyms used throughout the reports and interview statements; and a number of photographs.