Cross Country Checkup

How are you impacted by unexpected weather?

Two tornadoes ripped through Ottawa-Gatineau area on Friday, leaving thousands without power, and levelling many houses on its path. Are you prepared for any weather-related emergencies?

How do you equip yourself in case of an emergency?

Tens of thousands of people were left without power Saturday morning after a tornado ripped through the Ottawa-Gatineau area Friday. (Michel Aspirot/CBC)
Duncan McCue is the host of Cross Country Checkup.

It was anything but calm when a tornado ripped through Ottawa-Gatineau Friday evening.

Winds over 250 km/hr resulted in levelled homes, flipped cars and sheered trees in half. The community of Dunrobin, west of the city, looks like a bomb got dropped on it.

As you've been hearing in the news, that brief but violent storm destroyed the region's electrical infrastructure. It plunged large swaths of the city into darkness. Tens of thousands remain without power today. 

Tornados are scary, difficult to predict but not uncommon in Canada. We get more tornadoes than any other country except the U.S., according to Environment Canada, about 80 every year.

As the clean-up in Ottawa-Gatineau continues, it begs the question: how ready we are for natural disasters — which are walloping Canadians harder — and more often? Disaster losses have doubled every five to 10 years since the 1950s and insurers say Canada needs to get better prepared, after record-breaking claims from floods, wildfires and ice storms.
 
Our question today: How are you impacted by unexpected weather?