posting
08-13-2008, 12:29 AM
The City of Kingston is considering the adoption of similar heat response plan to the one described below in Hamilton
-- Kingston Electors
CATCH News – August 1, 2008
Hamilton, Ontario
Changes to heat response plan
Staff are proposing to amend the city’s heat warning system less than a month after an update was presented in early July. The system was criticized at that meeting and came under further fire a few days later when Toronto announced an “extreme heat alert” while Hamilton failed to respond even though local temperatures were higher here.
In a report going to councillors on Wednesday morning, staff are now recommending calling a heat alert if there are two days in a row with a humidex exceeding 40 celsius (104 F), instead of four in a row. For now the change would only be “a pilot” for the rest of this year and is being explained as an effort to test public response.
“Due to the low number of prolonged heat events, it is possible that the city will not experience a heat alert for the remainder of this summer,” notes the report. “This would allow staff the opportunity to implement this portion of the Heat Plan and determine the usage of municipally-operated cooling centres and outdoor city pools during extended operating hours, or the operating impacts of these efforts.”
The current Heat Plan calls for a heat advisory to be issued if the humidex is expected to exceed 40 celsius for one day, a heat warning after two days, and a heat alert to be called if the hot spell extends for four days or more above that benchmark. The alert requires the opening of cooling centres and extension of the hours of outdoor city pools.
Toronto bases its warning system on the increased likelihood of deaths due to weather, based on historical experience and not limited to extreme heat levels. It issued its most serious warning in mid-July with temperatures hovering in the low 30s.
Anti-poverty advocates have been pressing Hamilton to improve its heat response plan and bring it into operation more quickly. Tom Cooper of the Solutions for Housing Action Committee argues that Hamilton’s trigger level is set too high.
“Vulnerable populations at risk during periods of extreme heat include seniors, persons with disabilities, those who are taking medications affected by high heat, and individuals living in precarious housing with inadequate cooling,” he wrote earlier this month in a Raise the Hammer essay (http://www.raisethehammer.org/blog.asp?id=1066).
Lynn Aquin, another member of the city’s heat response advisory committee, spoke to council on July 9 and urged them to trigger the heat response plan at 35 degrees celsius, pointing out that the 40 degree standard was developed as a military safety standard.
The critiques are not mentioned in this week’s staff report.
CATCH (Citizens at City Hall) updates use transcripts and/or public documents to highlight information about Hamilton civic affairs that is not generally available in the mass media. Detailed reports of City Hall meetings can be reviewed at www.hamiltoncatch.org.
-- Kingston Electors
CATCH News – August 1, 2008
Hamilton, Ontario
Changes to heat response plan
Staff are proposing to amend the city’s heat warning system less than a month after an update was presented in early July. The system was criticized at that meeting and came under further fire a few days later when Toronto announced an “extreme heat alert” while Hamilton failed to respond even though local temperatures were higher here.
In a report going to councillors on Wednesday morning, staff are now recommending calling a heat alert if there are two days in a row with a humidex exceeding 40 celsius (104 F), instead of four in a row. For now the change would only be “a pilot” for the rest of this year and is being explained as an effort to test public response.
“Due to the low number of prolonged heat events, it is possible that the city will not experience a heat alert for the remainder of this summer,” notes the report. “This would allow staff the opportunity to implement this portion of the Heat Plan and determine the usage of municipally-operated cooling centres and outdoor city pools during extended operating hours, or the operating impacts of these efforts.”
The current Heat Plan calls for a heat advisory to be issued if the humidex is expected to exceed 40 celsius for one day, a heat warning after two days, and a heat alert to be called if the hot spell extends for four days or more above that benchmark. The alert requires the opening of cooling centres and extension of the hours of outdoor city pools.
Toronto bases its warning system on the increased likelihood of deaths due to weather, based on historical experience and not limited to extreme heat levels. It issued its most serious warning in mid-July with temperatures hovering in the low 30s.
Anti-poverty advocates have been pressing Hamilton to improve its heat response plan and bring it into operation more quickly. Tom Cooper of the Solutions for Housing Action Committee argues that Hamilton’s trigger level is set too high.
“Vulnerable populations at risk during periods of extreme heat include seniors, persons with disabilities, those who are taking medications affected by high heat, and individuals living in precarious housing with inadequate cooling,” he wrote earlier this month in a Raise the Hammer essay (http://www.raisethehammer.org/blog.asp?id=1066).
Lynn Aquin, another member of the city’s heat response advisory committee, spoke to council on July 9 and urged them to trigger the heat response plan at 35 degrees celsius, pointing out that the 40 degree standard was developed as a military safety standard.
The critiques are not mentioned in this week’s staff report.
CATCH (Citizens at City Hall) updates use transcripts and/or public documents to highlight information about Hamilton civic affairs that is not generally available in the mass media. Detailed reports of City Hall meetings can be reviewed at www.hamiltoncatch.org.