Our summers are getting hotter with more extremely hot days due to climate change.
There are things that you can do and resources that are available to reduce the impacts on you and your community during extreme heat events.
Preparing Before Summer
There are many things you can do to prepare for extreme heat events. PreparedBC has created the Extreme Heat Preparedness Guide to help individuals, families, and communities get prepared.
Some examples are identifying family and community members that might be at risk, such as people who live alone, are over 65 years old and who have limited mobility, evaluating if you can stay home or if there are areas of your home that are cooler, and identifying locations where you can go to cool down, such as malls, libraries, and green spaces with shade.
Check out the Four Steps to Emergency Preparedness to learn more about how to prepare for all types of emergencies.
Heat Warnings and Extreme Heat Emergencies
Weather-based alerts are issued by Environment Canada. In Victoria, a Heat Warning will be declared when daytime high temperatures are forecasted to reach at least 29 degrees Celsius for two consecutive days, with the nighttime lows not falling below 16 degrees Celsius.
An Extreme Heat Emergency will be issued when the criteria for Heat Warnings are expected to last for 3 or more consecutive days with temperatures continuing to increase.
Cooling Centers and Misting Stations
If an extreme heat emergency is declared, the City will open cooling centres and misting stations and activate its Heat Response Plan. Locations of heat-related resources will be communicated to residents using the City’s social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook and through the City’s emergency notification system Vic-Alert.
The cooling centres will be air-conditioned indoor spaces for the public when outdoor or indoor temperatures at home become dangerous. Outdoor misting stations and portable drinking fountains will also be operated at key locations throughout the city for those who are out and about. You can find the location of public misting stations and drinking fountains on VicMap.
For more information on the potential impacts of extreme heat and community resources available, check out our printable flyer. [PDF - 258 KB]: