Calgary Hailstorm Impact Study
On June 13, 2020 communities of the Northeast quadrant of Calgary experienced a catastrophic hailstorm that caused upwards of $1.2 billion in insured damages (City of Calgary). The affected communities are highly diverse, representing a variety of languages, cultures and religions that add to the overall strength and richness of Calgary’s culture. At the same time, many of the households in these communities are in core housing need and a greater than average proportion of people living there are low-income. In addition, when the storm occurred, many residents were already experiencing the financial and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that led to, for example, job loss, food insecurity, and social isolation.
As the hailstorm was an insurable event, it has been challenging for the community to access the needed recovery support given the complexity of the situation. The direct social impacts of this event are currently anecdotal in nature, and the community has requested support in researching the impacts of the hailstorm to aid in their advocacy efforts and recovery, as well as for future planning. In response, the Canadian Poverty Institute is working with residents using a Community-based Participatory Research approach to enable the community to fully understand the impacts of the storm and build their capacity for resilience to future events.
As the climate continues to change, severe weather events are expected to increase in both severity and frequency. In anticipation of this there is a critical need to better understand the specific needs of vulnerable populations and communities during and after emergencies. The Red Cross specifically identifies the need to “capture the experiences of high-risk populations in specific Canadian emergencies and disasters, track social changes affecting capacities and vulnerabilities in targeted population groups, identify factors facilitating or hindering emergency preparedness in voluntary organizations, compare government initiatives at various levels and evaluate good practice strategies over time.” [1] This should include a review of models of collaborative planning that integrate emergency management and voluntary organizations.[2] This can inform both planning to increase the resilience of communities as well as ensure that responses in the aftermath of such emergencies are timely and effective.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this research is to capture the current narratives from community members about the impact of the hailstorm and identify gaps in insurance, community and government disaster responses in order to inform current and future recovery efforts.
OBJECTIVES
a) Engage residents in creating an accurate picture of the impacts of the June 13 hailstorm and the recovery response to date, and to provide an estimate of the scale of those impacts.
b) Make available and accessible relevant information about the hailstorm to local organizations and community members to aid in advocacy efforts and planning.
c) Assess the current recovery response with respect to accessibility and appropriateness in the current and expected future community context.
d) Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that contribute to the current and future vulnerability and resilience of the disaster management response in the community.
e) Develop recommendations for creating resilience against and mitigating the impacts of severe environmental events among vulnerable communities.
Reports
For More Information
Contact Rudo.Makoni.
This project is made possible by the generous support of The Co-operators Insurance Company.
[1] Canadian Red Cross (2007). Integrating Emergency Management and High-Risk Populations: Survey Report and Action Recommendations. Ottawa: Canadian Red Cross.
[2] Sundareswaran, M., A. Ghazzawi and T. O’Sullivan (2015). “Upstream Disaster Management to Support People Experiencing Homelessness.” PLoS Currents. 8 August 2015.