Resilience Scanner

Meteorological Risk Dashboard for Emergency Response Alerts

Solution Overview

Montréal established a meteorological risk dashboard as part of its climate resilience infrastructure, representing the first such implementation by a Canadian city participating in the 100 Resilient Cities program.[1][2] This software application tracks forecasts and probable impact thresholds online while issuing alerts to emergency responders.[2] The initiative emerged from the city's participation in the Rockefeller Foundation's global resilience program, which began in 2013 and led to Montréal's induction as the first Canadian participant in 2014.[1]

Technical Components

The dashboard operates as a software application designed to monitor meteorological forecasts and establish probable impact thresholds for tracking purposes.[2] This system enables online tracking capabilities and automated alert distribution to emergency response personnel.[2] The technical infrastructure supports multi-risk monitoring across the city's geographic area.[2]

Implementation Details

The project originated when the Rockefeller Foundation launched funding for the Resilient Cities program in 2013, with Montréal selected from over 300 applicants and inducted as the first Canadian city in 2014.[1] The city used the awarded funds to create an Office of Resilience (Bureau de la Résilience) and hire a Chief Resilience Officer.[1] A Bureau de la résilience pilot project was already underway to develop the meteorological risk dashboard.[2][3] The implementation follows a medium-term time horizon and represents Action 26 to establish multi-risk monitoring in Montréal.[2] Principal partners include multiple Ville de Montréal departments (Bureau de la résilience, Centre de sécurité civile, Ville intelligente et numérique, Service des technologies de l'information, Centre de gestion de la mobilité urbaine, Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal, Service de l'environnement), Direction de la santé publique, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Wood, 100 Resilient Cities, citizens, and others to be determined.[2]

Benefits and Impacts

The system provides emergency responders with automated alerts based on meteorological forecast thresholds.[2] This approach enables proactive response coordination by tracking probable impact levels online.[2]

Climate Adaptation Relevance

Montréal's participation in the 100 Resilient Cities program specifically targeted increasing resilience to extreme weather hazards.[1] The meteorological risk dashboard addresses this vulnerability by providing real-time monitoring and alert capabilities for weather-related threats.[2]

Sources