Montrealers wading through their basements with water up to their calves. Cars submerged up to the windows in a parking lot near Carrefour Laval. Overpasses filled with water, roads closed for days. Oh yeah, and more than half a million Hydro-Québec customers without power.
Again !
The citizens are fed up with the repeated disasters.
There was a time when natural disasters were considered an “act of God” or a fatality that had to be resigned to. The damage was repaired, the victims were compensated… and prayers were said so that it would not happen again soon.
But today, we must realize that the increase in extreme weather events is not the result of chance, but of global warming.
Torrential rains, forest fires, ice storms, intense heat waves…
This is the new normal. And it’s going to get bigger.
In Montreal, the temperature has already risen by about 2 degrees since the 1980s. Even if we respect our commitments to reduce greenhouse gases, which is fundamental, warming will reach 3 degrees by the end of the century. But it could reach 6 degrees if we do nothing.
But for every degree of temperature increase, humidity in the air increases by 7%, increasing the likelihood of record rainfall, such as that left by the remnants of the tropical storm. DebbyFriday.
If we do not want to be repeatedly hit, it is crucial to act upstream and adapt our urban infrastructures, which were not designed to withstand the climate of the future.
It’s clear that the victims of serial flooding are not residents who took the risk of settling on the banks of a river. No, they are citizens who live in the heart of the island of Montreal, whether in Mont-Royal or in the borough of Saint-Laurent.
And every time the sewers overflow, they pay the bill. Some can no longer even get insurance coverage. Others are hit with a $25,000 deductible by their insurer, which they have to pay out of pocket if they make a claim.
It can’t go on like this. Last year alone, insurers paid out $3 billion in claims caused by severe weather events across the country, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
The good news is that things are moving. For example, Quebec has passed a bill that will allow it to review the rules so that the construction of new buildings takes climate change into account. The government has also allocated half a billion dollars to help municipalities develop a climate plan.
Okay, so what to do?
Municipalities could start by repairing their water infrastructure, which suffers from a chronic lack of maintenance.
The sums required are colossal. It would cost $44.7 billion to repair water structures in cities and municipalities in the province that are in a high or very high state of failure, according to the Centre for Expertise and Research in Urban Infrastructure.
Maintaining underground infrastructure may not be as electorally rewarding as launching new projects, with a nice ribbon cut in front of the cameras. But it’s the basics.
That said, there are other – faster and less expensive – ways to protect yourself against flooding.
A good example?
By creating sponge parks, such as the one on Place des Fleurs-de-Macadam in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, rainwater can be accumulated in basins that drain when the sewers return to an acceptable level.
Water can also be retained in catch basins hidden inside sidewalk projections, where vegetation can be planted to also combat heat islands. Two birds with one stone. Or even three, because this arrangement makes traffic safer.
The City of Montreal wants to build 30 of these sponge parks and 400 drainage sidewalk projections, thanks to an envelope of 117 million from the Quebec government as part of the Plan for a Green Economy. So much the better!
But citizens can also do their bit by redeveloping the slopes of their land and installing dry wells that can capture rainwater. They can also plant vegetation that will provide freshness and absorb water, unlike a concrete yard that will cause rain to run into their house.
Information campaigns are needed to better inform owners, because a recent survey conducted by the Desjardins Group among 4,000 Canadians shows that only half know how to prevent damage linked to climate phenomena.
However, it is nothing very complicated.
Install a backflow preventer. Run gutters away from the foundation. Drain the pool a little before a heavy rain to prevent it from overflowing.
Here are some small actions that can prevent water from getting into your basement. Again!