![]() Municipal officials are also wary of upsetting developers, who may then be required to make significant design changes. Updating the maps could prevent building in certain areas, which would spell more bad news for politicians who may have been counting on expanding their tax base. “It once got to the point that they got so angry - literally so angry - I’ve thought, ‘Holy cow this might be tricky for me to get to my car in one piece.’ They get substantially, substantially angry at the idea that they might need to change.”įloodplain maps are politically toxic for officials that support their creation, explains Feltmate, because “right away, you will find out that there are existing communities that didn't think they were vulnerable to flooding,” and having that information in the open could drive down the value of the real estate in those communities. “There's been a time when I've received serious pushback on legitimacy of climate change being real,” says Feltmate. Why it’s a political hot potatoīlair Feltmate, head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, gives regular keynotes to politicians of all levels of government about the gravity of not updating floodplain maps. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much political will to update the maps. ![]() Not having easy access to that information has made it harder for homeowners to assess their individual exposure to risk. The Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo is tracking communities that have had repeated flooding to see if there are spikes in mortgage defaults. The average cost to restore a basement is $42,000 - if homeowners are forced to pay out of pocket, it could destabilize the mortgage market. The possible repercussions could even spill over to Canada’s financial markets. learned they didn’t qualify for relief after the devastating 2013 floods because their houses weren’t located in designated flood zones - because the maps hadn’t been updated. Many insurers are also no longer offering flood insurance in some areas that have flooded recently because the premiums would be unaffordable for most policyholders.įederal aid isn’t there, either. A complete update would cost an estimated $136-million. In Ontario, three quarters of the provincial maps are out of date. Many municipalities in Canada have not updated their floodplain maps, because funding has dried up for the multitude of conservation agencies that monitor water systems. However, that’s something easier said than done. It would be helpful, then, to know if you live, or are moving to, an area that could be susceptible to flooding. The effects are already tangible: flooding is the number one cost realized in Canada due to climate change and in insurable damages, according to a recent report from the University of Waterloo. In Toronto’s case, Mayor John Tory acknowledged that climate change was likely the reason for the flooding, aligning himself with the majority of climate scientists who say these storms are set to become more intense in their severity and their frequency. Between the massive floods that pummelled communities in Montreal's West Island, and the rains that forced the shutdown of the beloved Toronto Islands, it’s been a wet summer.
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