Avalanche An avalanche occurs when a mass of snow falls down a mountainside.

That is because new snow (which is not wet) accumulates on a more heavy snow layer. Since the new snow layer is not compact, it could slide down toward the base of the mountain. Avalanches could be triggered by loud noise (yells, firearm shots, etc.). Skiers, snowboarders and climbers could also cause an avalanche.

 There are two ways to reduce avalanche risks: by

installing snowsheds or by triggering controlled avalanches. These protection fences are made of rocks, soil and other materials. They prevent avalanches to fill trails used by humans. Controlled avalanches cause the accumulated snow to fall down before it could trigger avalanches by itself. When nobody is in danger, explosives are used to produce a loud noise that causes an avalanche. Avalanches could be seen every winter in mountainous regions of Qubec. Fortunately, they do not often occur near inhabited areas

 What to Do During an Avalanche During the winter, do not venture in the mountain

without an adult. If you walk in a trail after a snow fall, do not walk in the middle of it, but rather on the side. Avalanches always fall down in the middle of the path; thus, if you are on the side, the risks of being hit by the avalanche are lower.

 Wildfire
Wildfires are dangerous for all people living near

woodlands. In the wild, wildfires are ignited by lightning. But some wildfires are caused by careless campers who did not extinguish their campfire or by walkers who threw their cigarettes in the woods. 80% of wildfires are caused by careless people.

 Wildfires move forward rapidly, even more if winds

blow and the weather is dry. To stop wildfires, firefighters use water bombers which carry water and drop it on wildfires.
Wildfires do not only have bad effects. In fact,

the many dead pin needles, leaves and tree trunks on the ground are burnt to ashes by wildfires. These ashes are full of minerals and help the growth of new trees. By burning trees, wildfires make gaps in the forest (called clearings). These clearings allow the sun to heat the ground up and help tree seeds to grow.

 How to Prevent Wildfires

Ensure that your campfires are always properly

extinguished. Never smoke in the woods.

 Flood
Floods happen when a watercourse overflows. They

could be caused by rain, thaws or ice jams.

 Heavy Rain

 When it rains, water falling on the ground

penetrates it. But when the ground already contains a lot of water, the falling rain could not seep through it. The water then starts flowing toward a watercourse. When it rains a lot on a region, all water flows toward the river, but this river can not contain it; therefore, the river overflows.

 Thaw When spring arrives, snow and ice start to melt

and the water flows toward the river. If the temperature rises too rapidly, a lot of water is produced in a short time; the river overflows and a flood happens.

 Ice Jam

 In spring, rivers thaw out and big chunks of ice

detach themselves and drift on the river. Sometimes these chunks get jammed against a bridge or rocks. Consequently, these chunks of ice form a kind of dam. When water can not flow through this dam, it tries to find an alternate course to reach the river and, sometimes, this new course is a field, a road or a house basement

 What to Do During a Flood With your parents, bring upstairs all objects of

the basement that could be damaged by water. If your family is asked to evacuate, do so immediately! The water level can rise faster than you think

Winter Storm There are many kinds of winter storm. You probably already know those happening during the winter, like the snow storm and the ice storm.

 Snow Storm The temperature must be sufficiently cold for

snow to fall and flakes to reach the ground. When winds blow heavily and you can not see before you, it means that a blizzard is blowing.

 What to Do During a Blizzard Go home! Many people lost themselves during

major snow storms. Everything becomes white and it is hard to find your way back home

 Thunderstorm

Lightning

During a thunderstorm, the air is charged with electricity. A lightning is an electric discharge

that hits the ground at approximately 40 000 km/s. Have you ever seen a bolt with forks? In fact, it is a series of lightning strikes taking the same path, too quickly for the eye to distinguish between them!

 Is the thunderstorm drawing near? To answer

this question, count the seconds between the lightning and the thunder clap. If the number of seconds between the lightning and the thunder clap increases after each lightning, you can conclude that the thunderstorm is moving away. If the number of seconds diminishes, the thunderstorm is moving closer! Take shelter!

 What to Do During a Thunderstorm If you are indoors, stay there until the end of the

thunderstorm. Unplug all appliances, because they could be damaged if a lightning strikes your house.

Do not talk to the phone during a thunderstorm: you could

get a shock.

If you are in the water, get out immediately. Beware! Lightning always strikes high and isolated points,

like a tree in a field. Never shelter under a tree during a thunderstorm, unless you are in the woods and sheltering under the smallest trees. If you do not have access to a shelter, sit down, put you head on your knees and cover it with your arms. Do not lie on the ground.

 Hail

Hails happen when drops of water freeze in clouds

and become small ice crystals. These crystals are tossed in all directions. They grow bigger as additional layers of ice form on their surface, like onion peelings. When hailstones are too heavy, they fall and it hails.

 Hailstones have a minimal diameter of 5 mm and

can reach 10 cm, that is the diameter of a grapefruit! The smaller ice crystals are called ice pellets. Hailstones can be very big and fall at great speed (130 km/h), hurting people and causing damages, such as breaking windows, denting in cars, ruining harvests, etc.

 What to Do During a Hail Storm

Take shelter as soon as possible! When hails are

small, they nip the skin: it is unpleasant, but not dangerous. When they are bigger, they can hurt you and cause damages.

 Tornado

A tornado is a funnel-shaped storm wind

spinning around. A tornado could be very destructive: its winds could speed up to 400 km/h! Moreover, it is impossible to foresee its path. It could switch directions. The Fujita scale is used to measure the strength of a tornado.

 Fujita Scale
The Fujita scale measures the strength of

tornadoes. It is comprised of 5 force levels: F-0 Winds from 64 to 116 km/h. Damaged chimneys and broken branches. F-1 Winds from 117 to 180 km/h. Mobile homes lifted off their foundation. F-2 Winds from 181 to 250 km/h. Mobile homes destroyed and trees torn.

F-3 Winds from 251 to 330 km/h. Torn roofs and walls, trains overturned and cars moved. F-4 Winds from 331 to 420 km/h. Heavy walls moved. F-5 Winds from 421 to 512 km/h. Houses lifted off their foundations and cars moved over several metres (up to 100 metres).

 What to Do During a Tornado If you are indoors, go downstairs, lie under a large

piece of furniture, turn away from the windows and cover your head with your arms.

If there is no basement, take a similar shelter in a

window-less room located in the centre of the building, if possible. ditch or under a viaduct and cover your head with your arms. Beware! Never chase a tornado because it could suddenly change directions and come toward you.

If you are outdoors, lie face down on the ground in a

 Hurricane Hurricanes are enormous tropical storms arising

out of the sea. Their violent winds are accompanied by a lot of rain. They are called ouragans in France, typhoons in Asia and willywilly in Australia. Hurricanes could move rapidly. They spin around and have an eye in their centre. The eye is the centre of the hurricane: this part is very calm as opposed to the edge, which has very bad weather.

 When a hurricane strikes, there is a lot of rain and

wind. Suddenly, all those things disappear! The weather is turning nice, winds diminish and rain stops: you are in the eye of the hurricane. But beware! Once it is gone, the bad weather starts again with reversed winds. Hurricanes usually affect warm regions, because these storms can not stand cold water. But, sometimes, some hurricanes do reach the Maritimes and Qubec. Fortunately, that does not happen often.

 Hurricanes Name

The name of the hurricanes is chosen from a list

of first names in alphabetical order. Female and male names are chosen alternatively. For example, the first hurricane of the year will be called Alexandra, the second Bernard, the third Catherine, etc.

 What to Do During a Hurricane

Go inside your house as soon as you learn about the

hurricane. Then go downstairs and lie under a large piece of furniture. If there is no such place in the basement, take a similar shelter in a window-less room located in the centre of the building, if possible.

Beware if the storm dies down! This could be the eye of the hurricane. Listen to the radio to know if the hurricane is moving away.

 Earthquake

 An earthquake happens when the earths crust

moves. You can then feel the ground shaking. Vibrations originate from a point called epicentre. Earthquakes strength varies a lot for each event. Some times, they are hardly felt and some other times, they are strong enough to cause fixed objects to fall and houses to collapse! Earthquakes can also cause tidal waves, also called tsunamis.

 It is possible to measure the strength of an

earthquake with the Richter scale of a seismograph. The Richter scale was created by an American seismologist named Charles F. Richter. The Richter scale ranges from 0 (no earthquake) to 9 (largest earthquake ever recorded). For each level, the earthquake is ten times stronger. For example, an earthquake in the range of 3 on the Richter scale is ten times stronger than an earthquake in the range of 2 on the same scale.

 Richter Scale
M 1: Usually not felt. M 2: Usually not felt. M 3: Often felt, no damage. M 4: Often felt, no damage. M 5: Moderate earthquake. Easily felt. Minor

damages to buildings near the epicentre. M 6: Strong earthquake. Damages to weak buildings located several kilometres from the epicentre

 M 7: Major earthquake. Many damages to buildings

located hundreds of kilometres from the epicentre. M 8: Giant earthquake. Heavy property damages and many dead and hurt persons on hundreds of kilometres. M 9: Super earthquake. Very rare. It destroys nearly everything in the region of the epicentre on thousands of kilometres.

 What to Do During an Earthquake

If you are indoors, lie under a large piece of

furniture, like a table or a desk, and cover your head with your arms. Turn away from windows and mirrors: if they broke, their splinters could harm you. If you are outdoors, move away from buildings, phone poles and electric wires; in other words, get clear of all injury risks.

 Volcano

 A volcano is erupting when it ejects fire and lava.

But volcanoes could also release dust, ashes and rocks. Volcanoes also produce gases: water vapour, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, etc. In some degree, volcanoes are the chimneys of the Earth, allowing the magma to flow. The magma rises slowly in the volcano (1 km/h), causing small earthquakes and, sometimes, tidal waves

 Volcanoes are usually found along the edges of

tectonic plates, but also elsewhere. There is no active volcano in Qubec. An active volcano is a volcano which erupted in the last 100 years. Magma The magma is molten rocks, that means rocks melted into liquid state due to the high temperature and pressure in the Earths core. When the magma spills from a volcano, it is called lava.

 Tsunami

 Tidal waves, or tsunamis, are a series of enormous

waves. Tsunamis originate from the sea and are caused by earthquakes or by the eruption of underwater volcanoes. These waves are breaking very fast and could rise up to 30 m high. These giant waves are very impressive, but also lethal: they destroy everything in their path, from houses to skyscrapers. Seeing the first of the waves from the coast means that it is already too late to attempt an escape.

 Rockslide and Landslide

Rockslide is a downward and rapid movement of

newly detached pieces of bedrock. Landslides are ground and rock movements. They occur most commonly where the ground is made of soft material, like clay. When ground or cliffs collapsed, one calls them "scree". The difference between a rockslide and a landslide is what is sliding: rockslide: big rocks and cliffs landslide: ground and mud

 What to Do to Avoid Rockslide and Landslide

Of course, if you live outside rockslide hazard

zones, accident risks will also be lower. To reduce rockslide (or collapse) risks, rocksheds similar to snowsheds, as for avalanches, could be installed. Another way is to trigger controlled rockslide risks, which means to cause less strong rocks to fall down after being sure nobody or nothing will be hit by them.