Costs of Climate Change - Storms - Preparedness Part 1

 On Tuesday, July 16th, a major rain storm event flooded Toronto.

2nd major flooding in 11 years a sign Toronto is not adapting quickly enough, say climate experts

Tuesday's extreme rain is very reminiscent of 2013 flood with similar consequences

Eleven years and 8 days ago, another flood devastated the city, with 126 mm or rain falling in 90 minutes.  For those of you who haven't converted, that's about 5 inches of rain.  In an hour and a half.

This time, just under 100 mm of rain fell in just a few hours.  Clearly people weren't ready, despite heavy rain warnings in all the forecasts.  The question is whether the city itself was ready.  

Earlier wet weather had saturated the ground so it was unable to absorb much extra and drainage systems were overwhelmed.

Following the 2013 flood, talk abounded about how Toronto needed to better adapt, as climate change was likely to make these heavy rain events more frequent and more severe. And while it's too early to attribute Tuesday's rainfall to climate change, by all appearances, the city still seems unprepared for a major rainfall event.

"As temperatures continue to rise, you're going to have more moisture in the system. So with more moisture and energy, you're going to have bigger storms, larger precipitation events, with more water coming down over shorter periods of time," she said, "so storms are going to come down with even greater force.

So, not only are we not doing anything much about the root cause of climate change (fossil fuel emissions, we're not doing much about preparing our homes, roads and cities for the changes that are clearly coming. 

To prepare costs money and we don't seem to have the sense of urgency needed to put the drive and dollars behind preparation.

Interview with Toronto's Mayor.

Toronto's Mayor noted that the number of severe storms is expected to double in the next 15 year, but also noted that the city is $26 billion and 10 years behind in infrastructure work.