Emergency preparedness

The Town of Hudson has an emergency response plan to come to the aid of residents in the event of an apprehended major disaster. If you find yourself faced with a major disaster, such as:

• Hazardous materials spills
• Plane crash
• Train derailment
• Collapse of buildings or structures
• Uncontrollable fires, explosions
• Flood, tornado, hurricane, ice storm, torrential rain
• Major breakdown of essential services (electricity, water, telephone)
• Earthquake

Or if you are faced with a situation involving risk and vulnerability, such as:

• Heat wave
• Extreme cold spell
• Epidemic or pandemic
• Dam burst
• Hostage-taking
• Attack

The municipal authorities will implement their emergency response plan when the situation requires. The plan consists of four steps:

• Prevention
• Preparation
• Intervention
• Recovery

The goal is to ensure an integrated and effective intervention in order to fully meet the needs of disaster victims, while encouraging appropriate participation by individuals.

In such a situation, the Town will assign intervention tasks to all municipal employees and coordinate the collaboration of relief organizations and volunteer community organizations in the Town of Hudson.

TO CONTACT ANY OF THESE DEPARTMENTS:

Fire Department
529, Main Road
Hudson, Québec J0P 1H0
Phone: 450-458-5347, ext 5222

Public Security Coordinator
Director General
64 Cedar
Hudson, Québec J0P 1H0
Phone: 450-458-5347

Operations Management for Emergency Measures
Daniel Leblanc,
Director, Fire Department
529 Main Road
Hudson Québec J0P 1H0
Phone: 450-458-5347, ext 5221

Make an emergency plan

It takes only 20 minutes to create a family emergency plan online. You can then print it out.

Prepare an emergency kit

All residents should be prepared for emergencies. Having an emergency kit will enable you and your family to meet your basic needs for a few days. Your kit should contain these basic items.

How to prevent the effects of heat

In Canada, heat warnings are issued by Environment Canada when one of the following conditions is expected to last for at least one hour:

• a temperature of 30 °C or higher and a humidex of 40 or more;
• a temperature of 40 °C or higher.

The definition of extreme heat varies by region. On average, the temperature must be between 31 ºC and 33 ºC in the daytime and between 16 ºC and 20 ºC at night for three consecutive days.

What to do before, during, and after a power outage

Power outages usually don’t last long. However, a power outage that lasts several hours can cause risks to your health and safety.

What to do before, during, and after a severe thunderstorm

A severe thunderstorm is often accompanied by torrential rain, hail, lightning or high winds. It can cause significant damage, such as flooding, fires, power failures and sometimes tornados.

A thunderstorm involves lightning and thunder. It generally lasts no more than one hour, but a series of thunderstorms can last several hours.

What to do before, during, and after a winter storm

During winter, various meteorological events may pose risks to individuals and property, and cause interruptions to essential services or activities in the community.

The meteorological events described below generally occur over a short period of time and are characterized by a very high intensity. They can pose a risk to people’s health and cause considerable material losses.

Windstorms

In Québec, windstorms refer to winds that:

• blow at 60 km/h or more for at least one hour
• gust at 90 km/h or more

They may be associated with low-pressure systems or local meteorological events, and they can cause significant damage.

Tornadoes

Tornadoes are rotating columns of high winds of up to 70 km/h. They can change paths abruptly, making them highly destructive.

Certain signs may indicate that a tornado is coming, including:

• Extremely dark sky tinged with green or yellow
• Frequent lightning and claps of thunder
• Torrential rain
• Hail
• Rumbling or whistling sound
• Funnel cloud at the base of a thunderstorm cloud

Hurricanes

The hurricane season runs from June to November. Depending on their trajectory, some hurricanes in the Atlantic can travel as far as Québec as tropical storms. They can bring destructive winds, torrential rains and devastating storm surges.

What to do before, during, and after these events

What to do before, during, and after an earthquake

Earthquakes, also known as seismic events, are unpredictable geological phenomena that cause vibrations on the surface of the ground. Approximately 5 000 earthquakes occur each year in Canada. Most are of low intensity, last only a few seconds and do not cause any damage.

However, a major earthquake can last several minutes. The main shocks are generally followed by aftershocks of varying intensity.

Although few high-intensity earthquakes have been recorded in Québec in recent years, seismic events can occur at any time.