The southwest got hit with its first big storm of the season this week, highlighting the sometimes dangerous weather that can come with a typical Saskatchewan season. From longer-than-usual power outages to wind storms and sudden plow winds or heavy snowfall, the province can see anything and everything. Sometimes in the span of a few days as the weather transitions to fall and winter and temperature swings heavy in both directions daily.

Swift Current Fire Chief Ryan Hunter and the City of Swift Current's Occupational Health and Emergency Management Coordinator spoke with Swift Current Online about the city's Emergency Management Organization (EMO) and where residents can go for information to keep their families safe.

Central to the city's planning, the EMO's website located here offers links to information and references on 18 different emergencies ranging from power outages and high winds to the current COVID-19 pandemic and the need for a 72-hour emergency survival kit.

as Fonger explains:

"It'll let you know what to pack in your car if you're travelling down the highway and you do get caught in some sort of snowstorm (for example). You're in the ditch in a storm state or something then you've got that stuff in your vehicle. All these tools are available on the city's emergency planning website and it's very easy, very well laid out. You can just go there, click on a certain whether it's power outages, winter driving, winter weather blizzards; it's all there for everyone to be able to use."

The push for more residents to make use of that resource is a strong one not only as the weather turns more inclement, but as the season brings more dangers around the home in terms of heating and fireplaces.

"There's so much information on the city website on how to prepare your family," Hunter added. "How to prepare for cold weather. How to prepare for other emergencies; any kind of winter travelling. There's even cold weather pet care. So the information on the city's website is so broad it covers so many things that we would like people to know."

Some of that information is seasonal; lights, candles and other holiday dangers. But also typical winter culprits like fireplaces, chimneys and vents.

The city does have other means of communicating with residents in an emergency, such as the Voyent powered Swift Current Alert app. But it's an option that as Fonger explains, they only use in dire emergencies and instead rely on other apps like Environment Canada and Sask Alerts, which most residents already have on their phone. General apathy from citizens due to an over-saturation of emergency alert notifications is a very real balancing act that is walked by the EMO.

"If we end up overusing the app, it's not good because people may just say "OK, well there's just another warning", and they tend not to, or sometimes won't pay close attention to it. So that's why we're really using Voyent and Swift Current Alerts for absolute dire emergencies such as evacuations, flooding, or imminent danger."

He added that more and more people are paying much closer attention to the weather with the rise of apps like Sask Alert and The Weather Network among others.

There can be a sense of complacency living in the prairies, where a lot of the more geographically limited weather emergencies tend to be rare. As well, there exists a well-deserved self-image of "resilience" to the prairie mentality that comes from plowing through countless winter storms.

But Fonger says that just because emergencies on a scale such as that taking place in British Columbia at the moment rarely happen here, it doesn't mean that they can't, and that's something that residents need to keep in the back of their minds.

"I look at the resilience of this province and of the people. This is why we can keep going. As long as we can keep giving them the information. It's just one more step and one more tool in the toolbox to help be prepared. Because anything can happen."

Click on the link below to visit the City of Swift Current's Emergency Planning Organization: