A ‘NORAD-like’ Model for Disaster Response in North America

There are a few things you should understand first. One is that there is no Canadian equivalent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The other biggie is that the majority of political power and decision-making is vested in the provinces of Canada, which are somewhat equivalent to our states. This fact is pointed out in the article.

There is nothing like a really big disaster, aka Canadian wildfires, to make people and organizations re-evaluate what their response mechanisms are.

With that as an introduction, see this article: “U.S., Canada open to a ‘NORAD-like’ model of joint disaster response: Blair.”

I expect many people have no idea what is being discussed when the term “NORAD” is used. See North American Aerospace Defense Command. It is a totally integrated United States and Canadian operation.

Not a bad idea given the size and complexity of some disasters. Besides wildfires, here on the West Coast we have the Cascadia Subduction Zone that runs from British Columbia (BC) down to Northern California and is likely the largest natural disaster the USA can experience other than an asteroid hitting earth.

Note: There was also a recent huge flood event that impacted BC more than the USA, but the waters generally flow north out of the United States.