Noushin Ziafati, The Canadian Press Published Friday, May 27, 2022 2:33 PM EDT Last Updated on Friday, May 27, 2022 14:33 EDT
Bethany Armstrong watched as the sky turned green on Saturday afternoon.
The woman from Peterborough, Ont., Was camping with friends in Lakehurst, Ont., At the time, so she checked a weather app on her phone and noticed a storm warning.
That was the only indication he had that a fierce storm was about to strike.
Armstrong said he never received the emergency alert that many Ontario residents received on their cell phones, and warned them to seek refuge before the bad weather that eventually killed 11 people.
One of those who died was a close friend of Armstrong’s family; Armstrong says this friend did not receive the alert either.
“If there had even been a five-minute warning … I would have come in,” Armstrong said of the woman he compared to his second mother.
Joanne Labelle, 64, of Cornwall, Ontario, was among the dead as a result of the storm. He had been staying in a trailer on Armstrong’s parents’ property in the Peterborough area when it was hit by strong winds and rain.
Labelle’s husband and Armstrong’s father found Labelle hit by a tree: Armstrong said the family believes Labelle had been trying to get from the trailer to a house on the property when she was hit.
Armstrong said her family and Labelle’s husband later checked Labelle’s cell phone, which was with her during the storm, but found no warning signs.
“I just thought, ‘Wow, you know, if I’d gotten the alert, we might not be in this situation,'” Armstrong said, describing Labelle as a “smart” woman who loved the outdoors and would have taken a really severe weather warning.
Emergency alerts are issued in Canada through the Alert Ready system, which provides critical alerts to Canadians via compatible, LTE-compatible television, radio and wireless devices.
The system was developed with many partners, including federal, provincial and territorial emergency management officials, the Environment and Climate Change of Canada, the weather information company Pelmorex Corp., the broadcasting industry and service providers. Wireless.
Environment Canada spokeswoman Cecelia Parsons said “immediate issuance” alerts are sent through the Alert Ready system for tornado warnings and severe storm warnings with gusts of 130 kilometers per hour or more and hail at least seven inches in diameter. Saturday’s storm was the first time a storm alert was sent through the system, he said.
However, some residents may not have received an emergency alert on their smartphones for a variety of reasons, including their “unsupported” phones, Parsons said.
“This can happen for a number of reasons: your phone is turned off or in silent or airplane mode; your phone is not physically in the specific alert area; device compatibility, LTE network connection, tower coverage mobile and software and device configuration, “he said.
Martin Belanger, director of public alert at Pelmorex, said smartphones must be in the area where an emergency alert has been issued to receive an alert and must also be connected to a network. LTE or 5G, a requirement set by the Canadian. Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission.
In April 2019, the CRTC requires that new phones sold by Canadian wireless operators be compatible with the emergency alert system, Parsons added.
Belanger said Environment Canada was responsible for issuing emergency alerts on Saturday, and Pelmorex received those alerts and made them available to wireless broadcasters and service providers.
He added that Pelmorex received “some” reports from the public about not receiving an emergency alert during Saturday’s storm. When the company receives these reports, it shares that information with its partners, he said.
Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said that with 11 people dead, the early warning system was not working as well as it might have had to protect residents from last weekend’s storm.
“I think we need to improve,” Blair said on Friday from Indonesia, where he attended international meetings on disaster risk and mitigation.
“When (there is) information that Canadians need to take steps to be safe, we need to make sure they get that information.”
Blair said public education is also needed for Canadians to know what to do when they receive this alert. He also said that the country’s public alert system, controlled by provinces and territories, is being applied “inconsistently”.
“The tragic loss of life and the damage that has taken place in Ontario and Quebec over the last few days show us that there is still more work to be done, and we are committed to doing so,” he said.
Armstrong, who weathered the storm last weekend by taking refuge in a nearby home, said he would like the Alert Ready system to improve.
“I just hope things can get better for the future and they can get a better system or adjust the criteria that need to be met,” she said as she reminded Labelle as a beloved matriarch and a mainstay of the pharmacy where she worked. “So we can try to help save other people.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 27, 2022.
– with files by Stephanie Taylor in Ottawa.