It's unlikely the GTA or the rest of Ontario would see hurricanes like Harvey and Irma but the risk of a major flood is very real.
"The number one insurance risk in Canada today is flooding. Our infrastructure; our sewage and our stormwater drainage systems are designed for what they call 100-year storms but those 100-year storms are happening more and more frequently. For example, in Houston now they've had three 100-year storms in the past three years. So, something we used to expect to happen on a rare occasion, these events are happening much more frequently with climate change and the changing weather patterns," describes Emergency Preparedness expert Daryl Culley.
A lot of people think disaster won't strike near them and often leave themselves vulnerable by not being properly prepared. "People need to be self-sufficient, they need to take time to look at their own resilience and not necessarily rely on the municipality or the provincial government coming to their rescue in the short-term. The municipalities, for example, will be focused on the most vulnerable and critical, those who need immediate rescue," Culley warns.
It's best practice to have enough water, food, medication, and power outage emergency kit to last 72 hours. "We recommend at least a gallon or four litres of water per person, per day," he explains. "Power failures are one of our major risks. You need to look at all of the things that would be impacted by a power failure. For example, gas pumps are run by electricity so you may not have access to gas, bank machines, fridges and freezers. You need to have a plan on how you would maintain or provide for yourself for at least three days without these services. We highly recommend keeping cash on hand. People rely so much on their debit card or credit card but they won't be able to use a debit card or credit card if there's no power," Culley says.
Battery operated radios and flashlights are also key items to store.
Culley also recommends that people don't allow their vehicle's gas tank to go below half a tank in case an evacuation is ordered with little to no warning.