When flooding is the norm, the status quo must go

“They say it’s 100-year storms — well it’s a few years later and we’re back in the same boat. Something is going on and we have to be conscious of it.”

That’s Premier Doug Ford talking about the threat of flooding in parts of Ontario and across Canada. It’s a significant comment, because it’s one of the rare times Ford has publicly confirmed he sees and understands the impact of climate-change induced extreme weather. That’s encouraging.

Yesterday, we discussed the unwise cuts Ford’s government is making to flood and water management in Ontario. Hopefully, his public recognition of the growing threat means he’s open to reconsidering those measures.

Ford’s welcome, if overdue, acknowledgement of climate change should serve as a wake-up call to the shrinking number of deniers among us. Debate the extent to which human activity is contributing to the crisis if you will, but we need to stop denying the obvious. Our weather is changing, and not for the better, unless you happen to like frequent and unpredictable flooding. And we are not prepared for Waterworld.

If we are serious about mitigating the impacts of extreme weather — in this case flooding — we need to do more than break out the sandbags.

As the premier said, we’re not talking once in 100 years any more. We’re not even talking once a decade. Two years ago high water records were broken, and this year those records will be broken again in some places.

What do we need to do? For one thing, we need to revisit where we allow and even encourage development.

Historically, development in flood-prone areas has been acceptable. Living in proximity to the water appeals to many, for good reasons.

And with that proximity, the risk of flooding has always existed. But we’re not talking about manageable risk any longer. We’re talking instead about near certainty.

We’ve all been watching and sharing the anxiety of homeowners as they fret for their property. Some are repeat victims — some in Quebec were flooded out in 2017 and only recently fully repaired their homes. Now they’re at risk again.

Two premiers, Francois Legault of Quebec and Blaine Higgs of New Brunswick, are openly talking about relocating homeowners away from flood-prone areas. Legault has been particularly blunt, saying high-risk homeowners can’t be compensated for flood damages year in and year out. He may be a bit harsh, but he’s not wrong.

Even if governments don’t insist on relocation, insurance companies soon will — home and flood insurance will be prohibitively expensive or simply not available.

It’s not just about flooding. The increase in violent storms and heavy rains is straining municipal infrastructure across the country.

Improving storm water management systems is essential and won’t be cheap. Neither is improving erosion control, another must-have to mitigate extreme weather. Chances are, right now, you’re paying more for those services, and that’s a direct result of climate change.

We could have started to work on climate change mitigation sooner. But we didn’t.

Now we’re paying the piper. Covering his bill isn’t going to be easy.

“They say it’s 100-year storms — well it’s a few years later and we’re back in the same boat.” DOUG FORD