Home PSEPC Daily Brief DOB06-030

Daily Brief

The PSEPC Daily Brief is a compilation of summaries of publicly available and PSEPC information concerning critical infrastructure protection and emergency management.

DOB06-030 - 13 February 2006

News

Heavy wind storm hits P.E.I.
As of February 13, a fierce storm is hitting P.E.I. with wind gusts of 70 km/h, blowing snow and creating poor visibility with the 20 centimetres of snow that fell overnight.

Schools on the island are closed for the day and most government offices are also closed, but might open later in the day.

Local transportation authorities are recommending that drivers stay off the roads.

A meteorologist with the Maritime Weather Centre in Halifax states that the worst of the blizzard is past, and that just a few more centimetres of snow are expected to fall.
(Source: cbc.ca, Environment Canada, 13 February 2006)
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Environment Canada issued blizzard and storm surge warnings for communities on P.E.I.

Gander Airport receives diverted flights
On February 12, CBCnews reported that the Gander International Airport in Newfoundland and Labrador received 14 diverted transatlantic flights. The flights, bound mostly for New York or Boston, were diverted after a heavy storm in the eastern U.S. closed most airports.

Approximately 2,000 passengers had to disembark in Gander earlier in the day but most flights departed later in the evening.
(Source: CBCnews, 12 February 2006)
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Calgary man dies in avalanche
On February 13, Canadian Press reported that a Calgary man died on February 12, in an avalanche while back-country skiing in the Kananaskis area west of Calgary.

A second skier was rescued without injury. The avalanche danger at the time was considered moderate.
(Source: canada.com, 13 February, 2006)
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PSEPC Geomatics provides a map (168 kb) of the affected areas.

Avian bird flu virus found in swans in Europe
On February 11, health officials from Italy and Greece announced that both countries had confirmed their first cases of the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus in wild swans.

No human cases have been reported, but Italian authorities indicated that the virus was found in swans in three separate regions of Italy. Greek authorities confirmed that tests conducted in a British laboratory found the infectious virus in three dead swans.

On February 11, the European Union announced that the H5N1 virus was found in wild swans in Bulgaria.
(Source: ctv.ca, European Union, 11 February 2006)
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Cyber risk assessment

Over the course of the past 72 hours, the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) has not detected any significant new threats or vulnerabilities. No significant incidents with the potential to affect critical infrastructure have been reported. Accordingly, based on the information available to CCIRC, the cyber risk facing Canadian critical infrastructure is assessed as low. Personnel responsible for information, systems and network security should continue to apply appropriate security precautions and monitor their systems.

CCIRC would like to remind readers of the monthly Microsoft Security Bulletin, which will be released tomorrow.

Recent cyber alerts and advisories issued by CCIRC can be viewed under “Recent analytical releases” at www.psepc.gc.ca/ccirc.

See also...

• The Weather Office
• FAC - Travel Updates

Note to readers

Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC) collects information related to cyber and physical threats to, and incidents involving, Canadian critical infrastructure. This allows us to monitor and analyze threats and to issue alerts, advisories and other information products.

Any suspected criminal activity should be reported to local law enforcement organizations. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) National Operations Centre (NOC) provides a 24/7 service to receive such reports or to redirect callers to local law enforcement organizations. The NOC can be reached at (613) 993-4460. National security concerns should be reported to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) at (613) 993-9620.

Links to sites not under the control of the Government of Canada (GoC) are provided solely for the convenience of users. The GoC is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or the reliability of the content. The GoC does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their content.

Some hyperlinks in the PSEPC Daily Brief direct users to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act. Users should be aware that these sources are only available in the language in which they are written.