HomeMy WebLinkAboutINS-13-098 - Summer Storm Follow-Up
REPORT TO:
Community & Infrastructure Services Committee
DATE OF MEETING:
October 21, 2013
SUBMITTED BY:
Jim Witmer, Director of Operations (741-2600, ext. 4657)
PREPARED BY: Jim Witmer, Director of Operations
WARD(S) INVOLVED:
All
DATE OF REPORT:
October 15, 2013
REPORT NO.: INS-13-098
SUBJECT: SUMMER STORM FOLLOW-UP
RECOMMENDATION:
For information.
BACKGROUND:
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On August 12, 2013 Council received report #INS-13-070, “Wind Storms, July 19 and July 27
for information to provide an update on the recent windstorm and how staff responded as a
result of the storm events.
At that time, staff was directed to report back to a future Community and Infrastructure Services
Committee meeting, on the historical frequency and intensity of the summer storms that took
place on July 19th and 27th, 2013, including the costs incurred by the City, and a determination
on whether the existing winter storm budget should be consolidated into a general storm
budget."
REPORT:
Historical frequency and intensity of the summer storms
Staff received correspondence from Mr. Geoff Coulson, Warning Preparedness Meteorologist
from Environment Canada, to gain an understanding of weather events within our community
and within Ontario. As part of that communication he summarized the events which occurred on
th
July 19 and 27.
He also noted that severe thunderstorms are expected to occur between late April to October
and they can produce large hail (2 cm or size of a nickel or larger), flooding rains (slow-moving
storm(s) over one location producing 50 mm/hr or more or less), damaging winds (downbursts
or straight-line winds of 90 km/h or more), or tornadoes.
While the chances of any one location experiencing severe localized summer storms is
relatively low, an average summer season has 50 to 60 damaging wind events, 20 floods, 20
large hail events and 12 tornadoes. It is important to note that damaging wind events (i.e.
downbursts or straight-line winds) occur more frequently than tornadoes.
IF 1 - 1
Wind events as what occurred in Kitchener are short bursts of strong winds that come from the
base of severe thunderstorms. They have wind speeds in the same range as the majority of the
tornadoes we get in Ontario (i.e. peak winds from 90 to 175 km/h) and are capable of producing
damage paths that are longer and wider than many tornadoes.
Future Summer Severe Weather Trends in Ontario
Environment Canada continues to work to better understand the trends in summer severe
weather in Ontario. Ontario-specific research has shown that we can expect an increase in the
occurrence of short-duration, high-intensity rainfalls. There is a need to collect more data over
the next years and decades to better understand future severe weather trends (i.e. damaging
winds, large hail and tornadoes).
The City of Kitchener’s Community Emergency Management Program Committee (CEMPC)
conducts a Hazard Identification Risk Assessment (HIRA) annually and consistently identifies
and prioritizes high wind/tornado events as a risk. We have been fortunate over the past many
years; however other communities surrounding us have experienced severe weather events in
both summer and winter. With this information it is prudent to continue to maintain and elevate
our existing Emergency Management Program. We need to ensure that we can effectively
meet our community needs and expectations (human, infrastructure, and financial needs)
should we be the unfortunate recipient of one of the many severe storm events experience in
Ontario annually.
Costs incurred by the City
As a result of the storms we received 635 Service Requests which generated 468 Work Orders.
Of the 468 work orders generated, 247 have been completed in their entirety. The remaining
work orders are still identified as active and have tasks such as stemming (33), stumping (86)
and re-planting (92) to be completed before they are closed in the system and will be completed
as time permits. Based on the costs for completed activities that have been tallied as of October
th
4 the chart below reflects the distribution of those costs to the respective Divisions which were
involved with, or impacted by the storm events.
Overtime
Included in
Total
StormStormLostCostDeferred
CostscostsRevenueSavingsWorkTotal
*
Operations 27,534 308,796 (44,043)264,753
CP&S - Kiwanis
Park
18,236 (1,187) 17,049
Fire210 210 210
Cemeteries
600 1,400 1,400
0
Total
28,344 310,406 18,236 (1,187) (44,043)283,412
permanently
*Workdeferred as a result of staff diverted to the storm.
IF 1 - 2
General storm budget
At this time staff is not recommending that the existing winter reserve fund be expanded to a
general storm budget. The winter reserve fund is funded by surplus from the Winter Control
operations and is intended to reduce the financial impact of severe winters and there has been
considerable volatility in winter storm activity over the past five years. The summer storms
experienced in 2013 has not been a regular occurrence in the Kitchener area over the past five
years. The tax stabilization reserve fund is intended to mitigate the impact of non-recurring
expenditures. The summer storms of 2013 would be such an expenditure.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
Quality of Life: Good government balances multiple perspectives, knowledge and lived
experiences.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
By deferring existing work and focusing on the storm clean-up, the net budget position will be
only marginally impacted. The inclusion of the overtime hours and lost revenue are the only
impact to the budget bottom line and are approximately $45,000 which is in line with the original
estimate of $50,000 as reported in August. However, any forestry work that had been
scheduled for completion during this time period has been delayed by at least 10 weeks which
reduces our service level to our residents.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY:
Pauline Houston, DCAO Infrastructure Services Department
IF 1 - 3