Exteme weather incidents are increasing across Canada, data shows. Christopher White/Dreamstime.com

By Eli J. Ridder

CITY HALL

Tornado response prioritized in Medicine Hat’s updated emergency response plan

Mar 21, 2025 | 10:15 AM

The City of Medicine Hat is reacting to the continued risk of a tornado by starting simulated field operations to help with faster response times.

The exercise is scheduled for late 2025 and will support the advancement to a full-scale field operations planned for 2026, according to a staff report.

The new tornado response planning is included in the this year’s emergency preparedness plan update due to increased risk, according to the city’s associate director of emergency management Merrick Brown.

“They’re unique incidents just given the fact that, number one, they’re very destructive,” Brown said Thursday.

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“Number two is the path is so variable. And number three is they strike us with very little notification.”

Brown presented the plan at the emergency advisory committee meeting Tuesday.

The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is on the rise across Canada, experts and researchers say, including wildfires, hail and other costly disasters

Alberta has been particularly hard hit, including the August hail storm that was caused over $3 billion in insured losses.

While the number of incidents in the traditional “tornado alley” of the prairies isn’t increasing on average, the frequency across Canada is, according to the Northern Tornados Project.

The project team in 2022 recorded 312 total events and 129 tornadoes, the most ever recorded in Canada and up significantly from 2017.

Research lead Greg Kopp said in April 2024 that tornados and other storms appear to be headed towards more populated areas.

Brown, the emergency management official, said the increase in storm severity across North America is something Medicine Hat is watching closely.

“Flooding, winds, everything is becoming more severe,” Brown said.

Both 2022 and 2023 ranked within the top 10 of all time for weather-related damage across the country, according to Statistics Canada.

From 1983 to 2008, insurers averaged $400 million yearly in catastrophic weather event payouts, and since 2009, the yearly average has risen to nearly $2 billion, the agency reported.

“You can’t look away from it: it’s here, it’s present and so we need to be prepared for it,” said Brown.

Another key theme for the city’s emergency preparedness plan this year is building up business resilience.

As much of Jasper burnt to the ground last year, municipalities across Alberta sent their own staff to assist with recovery and logistics, Medicine Hat included.

One of the takeaways for the city was the importance of local businesses.

“One really good sign of resilience within a community is how the economy comes back,” Brown said.

“So this year we are looking at that as well as from a business standpoint and an economic resilience standpoint.”

To that end, Brown has joined Medicine Hat Economic Development’s Selena McLean-Moore and the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce to provide training and other supports for local businesses.

The emergency preparedness strategy update is scheduled to come forward for council approval at its April 7 meeting.