An emergency can be any situation or a threat of an emergency that is caused by some event, natural (tornado), technological (power outages), or human (September 11th terrorist attacks) that negatively affects the health, safety or property of a significant portion of the people in a community.
All municipalities, large or small, are vulnerable to major community emergencies such as tornadoes, floods, blizzards, and power outages. When an emergency of this scale does occur, local municipalities are usually the first level of government to respond.
Significant events, such as the 1998 ice storm, September 11th terrorist attacks, SARS and Power Outages have all contributed to the increased awareness and need for appropriate public safety measures.
Today, all levels of government - federal, provincial and municipal - are taking steps to ensure proper emergency management programs are put in place.
The aim of Ontario’s emergency management program is to improve public safety and to promote disaster-resilient communities through increased public awareness and public education campaigns, and to create public confidence in a municipality’s ability to manage a major community emergency.