I. Introduction

Beginning in March, 1998, Queen's University, with funding from Human Resources Development Canada, studied responses by local organizations to the Ice Storm Emergency in the area of eastern Ontario from Kingston to Brockville.

Included in the study were the Cities of Kingston and Brockville, the Town of Gananoque, the Village of Athens, and the Townships of Frontenac Islands (Wolfe Island in particular), Front of Leeds and Lansdowne, Front of Escott, Front of Yonge, Elizabethtown and Rear of Yonge and Escott.

Represented are a variety of municipalities ranging from Kingston, the second largest city in eastern Ontario (population: 110,000), to the Townships which, typical of many eastern Ontario municipalities, are largely rural and sparsely populated.

Approximately 200 interviews were conducted with a variety of responders including municipal staff and politicians, police and fire personnel, members of the media and the military, staff of local volunteer agencies, and staff of various provincial ministries.

A list of interviewees can be found in Appendix ‘A’.

Interviewees were asked to recount what they did during the Emergency and to comment on what worked well, what did not, and what they would do the next time. More than 25 post-storm reports (from interviewees and organizations including Ontario Hydro and the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton) were also collected along with newspaper clippings, other Ice Storm-related documents and a variety of pictures and videos. All of the material collected is accessible through the Queen’s University Archives. A written account of the taped interviews has been produced.

The original intent of the study was to preserve a piece of history and to provide material for researchers to analyze in the future. However, further funding from Emergency Preparedness Canada and Human Resources Development Canada was secured to produce a report abstracting the hundreds of lessons in emergency preparedness and response contained in this material in a format useful to emergency planners and responders. The lessons presented here are not meant to be exhaustive, as they are based solely on the information collected and not on a survey of the literature available on emergencies. They have been grouped by topic and are not listed in any order of priority. Some lessons appear under more than one heading so each topic can stand on its own. It should be noted that the lessons are not necessarily universally applicable because municipalities vary widely in population, demographics, form of development (urban vs. rural), geographic size, resources available to respond to emergencies, state of preparedness and training, and the nature of the services they are called upon to provide in an emergency.

This report is intended to be easy and quick to read. Most of the lessons are therefore listed without explanation or analysis. Many are however illustrated with quotes from post-storm reports or excerpts from the interviews. The lessons are out of context and are often more meaningful if the relevant parts of the interview statements are read. However it is expected that readers will apply their own experiences and knowledge to the material to decide what is useful and applicable in their own particular circumstances, and will not need to read all of the interview statements.

A list of acronyms used in the report can be found in Appendix ‘B’.