St. James Town is one of Canada’s most densely populated and largest high-rise communities. The town is a diverse neighborhood comprised of multi-cultural, multi-linguistic, and multi-ethnic individuals most of whom are immigrants. St. James is a neighborhood that has continued to transition since the 1870s (Neighborhood Guide, n.d.). Among the significant transitions was the announcement of major zoning in 1953 when the town became an instant target for private developers (St. James Town). This major transition led to the development of high-rise residential apartments. According to Neighborhood Guide (n.d.), in 1997 St. James Neighborhood experienced another pivotal transition, that involved the town’s approval marking the beginning of a community action plan aimed at its revitalization.
The Nature of the Hazard and The Risk to St. James Community
Power outage is a hazard that has detrimental impacts on the whole community and the economy. Disruption of electrical power generation, transmission, or distribution significantly affects societies with minimal tolerance to power outages. Studies reveal a huge impact of power outages on public health (Dominianni et al., 2018; Skarha et al., 2021). St. James Town’s residents rely on electrical power for transportation, communication, running their businesses, and at home. The town has had electrical power challenges with many of its high-rise buildings forcing residents to be evacuated (Smee, 2019). A long-lasting power outage is catastrophic to the town’s infrastructural systems and their day-to-day operations. Power outage leaves the residents in the dark and exposes them to insecurities. With most people in the town relying on electricity to heat their homes, lack of electricity exposes them to the cold and increases health risks.
Potential Secondary Hazards from the Power Outage Hazard
Power outage in St. James Town would result in secondary hazards such as disruption of water supply exposing the residents to health risks related to poor sanitation. Another potential hazard would be traffic accidents due to a lack of traffic control devices whose operation depends on electrical power. Food spoilage in homes and groceries that depend on electrical power for refrigeration increases during power outages. The use of alternative fuel and light sources such as kerosene, wood, and candles during a power outage can create increased risks of fire. Therefore, there are different potential hazards that would occur in St. James Town during a long-lasting electrical power disruption.
Effects of Power Outage Hazard on the Community
Power outages at St. James Town would affect the basic life of the residents including their business operations. A significant number of businesses may end up closing if there was prolonged electrical power disruption in the neighborhood. Mass transportation within the neighborhood would be significantly affected. The community’s public safety would be at risk due to loss of communications capability resulting from power outages. The community at St. James Town may face utility and service interruption which could result in adverse economic and environmental impacts.
Most Vulnerable Community Group(s) to the Effects of the Hazard
Though power outages would have adverse effects on all the residents in St. James town, several community groups may be more vulnerable than others. For instance, the elderly and the medically frail who rely on electricity to heat their homes ae at the risk of hospitalization or critical medical conditions during power outages. Dominianni et al. (2018) study showed that older adults and individuals depending on electric medical devices are at greater risk of power outage health impacts. The business community that relies on electricity to operate their machines and equipment may face significant financial losses during the hazard.
Emergency Preparedness Section
Emergency preparedness is critical for every community to minimize losses associated with power outages. A survey conducted among the Ontario residents to evaluate their emergency preparedness during electrical power loss showed that the majority did not think it was necessary to have the preparedness (Dominianni et al., 2018). The Canadian Red Cross is among the fundamental public education initiative to consider for hazard preparedness in St. James Town. The initiative which has a network of trained volunteers throughout the country would play a substantial role in providing insight to caregivers with people that rely on electrical power in case of a power outage (Canadian Red Cross). The campaign would also involve the Ontario Association of Emergency Managers (OAEM), a community that offers educational opportunities through mentorship, advocacy, and networking for emergency preparedness. The community works with emergency managers to ensure that neighborhoods build adequate resilience to emergencies.
The Public Information Initiatives Used
The public information initiatives such as the Emergency Preparedness Guide and the Emergency Management Framework for Canada are important in educating the emergency partners on preparedness (Hastings County 2020; Public Safety Canada). These initiatives mostly target the communities, volunteers, indigenous people, academia, government, and non-governmental sectors to build a resilient capacity. Working with these initiatives would empower the society and the different systems to reduce the risks and vulnerability of the power outage in St. James Town.
The Types of Organization(s) Approached as Community-Based Partners
Partnering with the community’s based organizations would be critical for the town’s preparedness for power outage hazards. St James Town Community Co-op, a resident-owned and operated organization would be one of the few that might be considered for partnership. The organization was created by residents for capacity building and emergency preparedness. The Co-op’s major programs, OASIS Food Hub, Climate & Emergency Resilience, and the Resident Capacity Building would have a pivotal role in the neighborhood’s preparedness to the power disruption hazard.
The Community Resilience to Extreme Weather (CREW) is another community-based partner that can be considered for hazard preparedness in St. James Town. The organization is known for promoting emergency preparedness in the neighborhood by bringing people together through training sessions, door-to-door outreach, workshops, among other community events. CREW (n.d.) can work with diverse teams including neighborhood associations and community groups to establish robust social networks that enhance St. James community resilience.
Potential Challenges to the Campaign
An effective emergency preparedness campaign requires a dedicated team of leaders who should share their intelligence and liaise to coordinate the campaign plans. However, leadership struggles are a potential hindrance to the success of the St. James Town power outage emergency campaign. The campaign which might involve several organizations and stakeholders is likely to experience ineffective communication that might paralyze the emergency management operations. Power outage hazard is a dynamic and complex incident that affects the life of every resident in a community. A campaign to promote St. James community resilience requires a wide range of resources including stakeholder relationships which might be inefficient to meet the demand. Inefficient deployment of resources including response teams, efficient coordination, and goodwill from the partners are potential barriers to the campaign’s success.
The Desired Results of the Campaign
The St. James Community emergency preparedness campaign aims at empowering the residents living in the neighborhood to prepare for the power outage. Among the desired results of the campaign is to create awareness about the impacts that power outages would have on their livelihoods. Of more importance is to ensure that families living in the neighborhood have an emergency plan in place to deal with electrical power disruption. The campaign looks forward to ensuring that business people, the private and public sector have emergency supply kits to ensure that critical infrastructural systems remain operational.
References
Canadian Red Cross. Emergency and disasters in Canada. Web.
Community Resilience to Extreme Weather (CREW). (n.d). CREW in St James Town. Web.
Dominianni, C., Ahmed, M., Johnson, S., Blum, M., Ito, K., & Lane, K. (2018). Power outage preparedness and concern among vulnerable New York City residents. Journal of urban health, 95(5), 716-726. Web.
Hastings County (2020). Emergency Preparedness Guide. Web.
Neighborhood Guide. (n.d.). City of Toronto, Downtown. Web.
Ontario Association of Emergency Managers (OAEM). Home of the Ontario emergency management community. Web.
Public Safety Canada. Emergency management strategy for Canada: Toward a resilient 2030. Web.
Skarha, J., Gordon, L., Sakib, N., June, J., Jester, D. J., Peterson, L. J. & Dosa, D. M. (2021, November). Association of power outage with mortality and hospitalizations among Florida nursing home residents after hurricane Irma. In JAMA Health Forum, 2(11), 1-10
Smee, M. (2019). Landlords should keep better tabs on electrical systems, St. James Town report says. Web.
St. James Town Community Co-op. About the Co-op. Web.
St. James Town. About the Neighborhood. Web.