A 72-hour emergency checklist for Chatsworth and Grey-Bruce

Public Safety Canada has long advised households to be ready to manage for at least 72 hours if essential services such as electricity and running water are disrupted. As CP24 reported on Nov. 10, recent preparedness campaigns in other countries have put that advice back in the news. The United Kingdom's official Be Ready campaign is one example. The Canadian guidance itself is not new.

In the Township of Chatsworth and across Grey and Bruce, the useful work is practical and local: a kit you can find in the dark, a simple household plan, a way to get official alerts, and a few extra steps that matter on a farm, a sideroad or a private well.

The tone from officials is steady, not alarming. In a Feb. 3, 2026 reminder, Bruce County's emergency management coordinator, Ray Lux, said: "Ensuring that you and your family are prepared for a possible emergency is one of the most important steps you can take. Take the time to know your risks and make a plan. You may never have to use it, but if you do, you'll be glad you made the effort."

Where to start locally

The Township of Chatsworth keeps an emergency preparedness page, including a link to its emergency response plan, flood information from the province and the conservation authorities, and how to reach paramedic, fire and police services. In a life-threatening emergency, call 9-1-1. For non-emergency help finding services, the township points residents to 211 Ontario.

Grey County publishes emergency-preparedness advice and an Emergency Management Portal with links for weather, road conditions, power outages and municipal websites. Its current county emergency management plan was adopted by By-law 5158-23 on July 13, 2023.

Bruce County outlines its emergency management program and points residents to a kit and a household plan. The county's February reminder also listed severe winter weather, floods and other local hazards among the risks to consider.

Federal checklists and plan templates are at GetPrepared, which leads to Public Safety Canada's current guidance on Canada.ca. Ontario's overview is at Be prepared for an emergency.

A 72-hour kit

Public Safety Canada's emergency kit checklist (reviewed April 30, 2026) says to think about what each person in the household, including pets, would need to stay safe and comfortable for at least three days, whether you have to stay home or leave. Keep the kit easy to carry and make sure everyone knows where it is. People in more remote areas may need extra supplies, and the federal advice is to add more if you can in case an emergency lasts longer.

The basic list includes:

• Stored or bottled water: two litres per person per day for drinking, cooking and hygiene
• Non-perishable food, such as canned food, energy bars and dried foods (replace once a year)
• A manual can opener
• A wind-up or battery-powered flashlight, a wind-up or battery-powered radio, and extra batteries or battery packs
• A first aid kit
• Extra keys for the car and house
• Cash in smaller bills and coins
• A mobile phone charger and power bank
• Tissue, toilet paper and paper towels
• Copies of important documents, a copy of your emergency plan, a list of medications, and key contact numbers

Add what your household actually needs: prescription medications and medical equipment, infant formula, eyeglasses, toiletries, and pet food, water and medication. Public Safety Canada also lists optional extras such as water-purifying tablets, a whistle, a small stove (never use fuel-operated stoves inside buildings, tents or other closed spaces), and a change of clothes and a warm blanket in a grab-and-go bag.

Health Canada uses the same two-litre baseline and suggests keeping two additional litres per person per day for cooking and cleaning, plus enough water for pets. The federal kit page says to use the spring and fall time change to check expiry dates on food, water and medications.

Make a plan

Public Safety Canada's household emergency plan asks families to decide how they will reach one another if they are apart, including one or two out-of-town contacts, and to choose two meeting places: one nearby and one outside the neighbourhood. Text messages, social media or a long-distance call may get through when local calls do not. Put a copy of the plan in the kit.

If you have to leave home, plan how you would travel and where pets could go. The federal guidance notes that reception centres often accept only service animals.

Alert Ready, including on phones

Alert Ready is Canada's emergency alerting system. It delivers critical alerts on television, radio, and compatible LTE-connected wireless devices. If you hear the distinctive tone, the advice is to pay attention and follow the instructions.

For a phone to receive an alert, Alert Ready says three conditions must be met: the device must be compatible with Wireless Public Alerting and able to connect to an LTE network (commonly called 4G LTE); it must be running the latest version of its operating software; and it must be connected to an LTE cellular network when the alert is issued, or join that network while the alert is still active. You can check compatibility by carrier on that page.

A national test is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2026. In Ontario, Alert Ready's testing schedule lists 12:55 p.m. EST. The system's homepage says not to call 9-1-1 for information about the test, because those calls can delay help for people in a real emergency.

Power outages and Hydro One

Most rural households in this area are Hydro One customers. Hydro One's storm safety tips also start with a 72-hour kit and a family plan. Before a storm, the utility says to charge phones, lower the fridge to 4 C and the freezer to -18 C, and sign up for outage alerts.

The live outage map is also linked from Hydro One's outage tools. Hydro One says the map is updated every 10 minutes. You can report an outage online, text "outage" to 92887, or call 1-800-434-1235. The storm-safety page says to make that call from a mobile phone, not a landline.

Other Hydro One advice during a storm: stay indoors and away from windows, use flashlights rather than candles, unplug electronics, and stay at least 10 metres from a downed power line and report it. Avoid opening the fridge and freezer more than you must.

If you are on a private well

An electric pump cannot run without power, so stored water matters more on a well than on a municipal system. Health Canada's well safety during and after emergencies page says to have a backup water supply ready.

During a power outage, Health Canada says not to open faucets, take showers or flush toilets. The water still in the system can be several litres, but using it while the power is out depressurizes the system and increases the chance of contamination. If the system loses all of its pressure, or no water comes out of the faucets, have the well water tested before using it again. Once power is restored, flush the lines by running the water for a few minutes, and make sure any treatment system is working properly.

Generator and carbon monoxide safety

Portable generators can keep a furnace fan, a well pump or a fridge going, but they produce carbon monoxide, which you cannot see or smell. Ontario's carbon monoxide safety page says to use portable fuel-burning generators only outdoors, in well-ventilated areas, away from windows, doors, vents and other building openings. It also says never to run a vehicle or other fuelled engine inside a garage, even if the garage door is open. If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, get everyone outside and call 9-1-1 from outside the building.

A generator must not be connected in a way that can send electricity back onto utility lines, which can endanger hydro crews. If you want to power household circuits, that connection should be made through a properly installed transfer switch by a licensed electrical contractor, using equipment approved for use in Ontario. A generator can also run individual appliances through a proper, grounded extension cord rated for the load, provided it cannot backfeed the house wiring.

Winter storms and roads

Winter storms are one of the more familiar local risks. Check Ontario 511 for provincial highway conditions, closures and cameras before you travel, and use Grey County's portal links for local road information. If officials or the weather make travel unwise, the safer plan is to stay home and use the kit. Hydro One's advice after a storm includes checking on neighbours and staying well back from downed lines.

Pets and livestock

Public Safety Canada's pets and service animals guidance says to bring animals with you if you can, keep identification current, and pack a crate or carrier, a leash, food and water for at least 72 hours, medications, and vaccination records. The federal page gives water figures of four litres a day for an average dog and one litre a day for an average cat. It notes that most evacuation shelters accept only service animals, so you should plan now where a pet could stay.

Farms need a written plan as well. Grey County's preparedness page includes a section on being prepared on the farm, with a link to workplace safety guidance on strengthening a farm emergency response plan. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture's farm-animal preparedness fact sheet (updated July 15, 2026) says to know local risks, keep a contact list that includes a veterinarian and neighbours, and plan both for sheltering in place and for evacuating with or without animals. It says livestock need enough food, clean water and safe fencing or pens, and that in some storms animals may be safer in a suitable pasture than on the move.

Potassium iodide near Bruce Power

For households in the designated zones around Bruce Power, potassium iodide (KI) tablets are part of existing nuclear-emergency planning. This is not a new threat, and the tablets are not a substitute for a 72-hour kit.

The Be Prepared Grey Bruce Huron program, in partnership with Bruce Power, the Municipality of Kincardine and Grey Bruce Public Health, says KI tablets have been distributed to residents, schools, daycares and businesses within 10 kilometres of Bruce Power, and that people living up to 50 kilometres from the site can pick up a package free of charge at listed participating pharmacies. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission requires pre-distribution within 10 kilometres of nuclear generating stations.

KI protects only the thyroid, and only against radioactive iodine. It does not protect against other forms of radiation. Officials say not to take the tablets unless the Ontario chief medical officer of health instructs the public to do so, through radio, television, the internet or other official channels. Chatsworth is not among the pharmacies listed on the local distribution page; anyone who lives in a designated zone should follow that page rather than guess.

A short checklist

• Build or refresh a 72-hour kit, including two litres of water per person per day, and more if you are on a well or have pets.
• Write down a household plan and two meeting places, and keep a paper copy with the kit.
• Confirm your phone can receive Alert Ready alerts, and treat the Nov. 18 test at 12:55 p.m. as a test, not an emergency.
• Know how you will report a Hydro One outage and where to find the outage map. Stay at least 10 metres from downed lines.
• If you have a well, store water now and do not run water during an outage in a way that depressurizes the system.
• If you have a generator, use it only outdoors, away from openings, and never in a garage. Use a proper transfer switch for household circuits.
• Check Ontario 511 before you drive in a storm.
• Pack for pets, and if you have livestock, keep a farm plan, feed, water and contacts up to date.
• If you live in a Bruce Power KI zone, keep official instructions for the tablets and do not take them unless told to.

If you want a printed starting point, begin with Public Safety Canada's kit checklist and plan, then add the local pages from the Township of Chatsworth, Grey County and Bruce County so the numbers and links you need are in one place before you need them.