Why Canada is unprepared for 'new reality' of flash flooding and severe storms
But he's also worried Canada isn't doing enough to prevent such disasters here, saying the country needs to invest in flood mapping, infrastructure and early warning systems.
"Luckily, there are many ways that we can protect ourselves, but we have to make the effort," said Ness, who is the research director for adaptation at the policy research organization.
"You know, first of all, we have to understand where the risk is."
He said many parts of Canada don't have flood maps, "so it's hard to know where to protect or where to send warnings."
Flood warning systems are also needed to help people in the path of flash floods "prepare or get away, if they can," while long-term infrastructure upgrades are needed to protect risk zones.
"In some cases, that means putting things in the houses like backflow valves that keep sewers from backing up," he said.
Why Canada may not be ready for 'new reality' of flash flooding and severe storms.
"Or it can mean building flood walls along rivers to keep flooding from happening. Or it can mean making sure that city planning doesn't allow more new housing in flood risk zones."
The raging flash floods in Texas — among the worst in the United States in decades — slammed into camps and homes along the Guadalupe River before daybreak Friday. Some survivors were found clinging to trees.
The disaster has put a focus on both the risk of flash flooding and how to predict or prevent it.
Ness warned that climate change is making flash flooding worse and many Canadian cities, provinces and territories don't have laws in place to prevent development in dangerous areas.
He called the increased risk of flash flooding and more severe storms "the new reality."
Flash floods have struck across Canada over the past year, including Coquitlam, BC, where an atmospheric river rain event triggered a mudslide that killed a teacher in October, and Toronto, where torrential rain overwhelmed drainage last July and caused about $990 million in insured losses.
Ness said that in hilly areas of BC's Interior with fast water runoff, flash floods can sweep away people's homes with "very little warning."
He said flash flooding can be made worse in areas burned by wildfire, where soil that is no longer held together by plant life "is much more likely to maybe turn into a mudslide or a landslide."
He said other risk areas are in Alberta in the front ranges of the Rockies featuring lots of rock and little absorbent soil.
"When it does rain, it can flow downhill very quickly. The town of Canmore (in Alberta), for example, has identified this as a major risk and has a strategy to try to deal with it," said Ness. Massive floods hit the town in 2013.
In Montreal and Toronto, flash floods are usually due to paved areas with no soil to soak up heavy rain, Ness said.
"And the water rises very quickly in rivers and streams that run through those areas, and it also rises very quickly in sewers, and that's what backs up into people's basements most often, and causes basement flooding," said Ness.
He said Toronto has a multibillion-dollar strategy to improve storm sewers. But it takes a long time to find that much funding, and the type of disruptive construction required isn't an easy fix.
"That's another reason to start making these investments as soon as possible, because it is going to take some time. But climate change isn't going to wait," said Ness.
He said Canada needs to adapt for flash flooding much more quickly.
"There are many smart engineers and government officials who know what to do, but we need to support and invest in the projects to adapt to this new reality. Otherwise, we are not going to be ready."
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CTV News
8 hours ago
- CTV News
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Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Toronto Sun
How Canadian wildfire smoke is jeopardizing health across North America
Published Aug 09, 2025 • 6 minute read A warning sign near Squamish, British Columbia, in June. Photographer: James MacDonald/Bloomberg Photo by James MacDonald / Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — The hazy air hovering over US metropolises, including Chicago and New York, this summer is reminding Americans of just how connected they are with their northern neighbour, regardless of how much relations have deteriorated under President Donald Trump. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Canadian provinces have evacuated towns and struggled to contain the second-worst wildfire season in 30 years, while residents of some US cities have endured unhealthy air as smoke from the blazes wafts across the border. The scenes of smoke-choked cities are reminiscent of 2023, when skies turned orange over New York City amid what was Canada's worst wildfire season on record. They also come as the US West's wildfire season worsens, with blazes burning in California, Arizona and Nevada, and France deals with the fallout from its worst fires in seven decades, including smoke-damaged grapes across wine-growing regions. 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State-level lawmakers have also voiced concerns. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In response, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew accused the US lawmakers of 'trivializing' the explosive blazes, while praising US firefighters who are assisting Canadian efforts to control the blazes. Are Canada's forest management practices to blame? Canada is exceedingly efficient in fire monitoring and control compared to the US, said Mark Ashton, a dean of Yale University's Forest School. But Canada's massive swaths of forested land, a sparse population and limited infrastructure mean the country is constrained in its ability to respond to all blazes. 'In the most remote, difficult to access regions, you have no choice but to monitor and let burn,' Ashton said, adding that such an approach is pretty much the same strategy used in remote areas of Alaska. Indeed, of the roughly 500 uncontrolled blazes in Canada, 305 were being monitored. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Still, the country lacks a consistent approach to assessing risk, one that guides wildfire responses, and funding for wildfire prevention, mitigation and preparedness hasn't kept up with an increasing need, researchers wrote a 2020 study. Is there anything more that can be done to prevent or limit fires? Canada has been making some changes to its approach to wildfires, including integrating Indigenous cultural burning practices and, in British Columbia, planting more broadleaf trees that don't burn as easily rather than conifers in areas where timber has been harvested near urban locations, said Stefana Dranga, a wildfire research officer at Natural Resources Canada. Canada is also borrowing techniques from the US, including the use of pre-defined strategic fire management zones, a tool for identifying land features that can stop or slow wildfires for suppression, she said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Cutting greenhouse gas pollution would also help lower the risk of explosive fires in the long term. The boreal forest stretching across northern Canada and other Arctic countries is particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures. 'The fires in the region have been amplified by changing climate that has increased the degree and length of these hot and dry periods,' Ashton said. While cutting greenhouse gas emissions to zero wouldn't immediately decrease fire risk, it would pay dividends in the decades to come. What will climate change mean for Canadian wildfires? The smoky summers are only poised to worsen in the years ahead as the globe gets hotter, according to Liam Buchart, fire weather specialist at Natural Resources Canada. 'As that warmth continues to build up in our climates, it's just making the fire season a bit more volatile.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Boreal forests sequester billions of tons of carbon. Yet as temperatures and fire risk both rise, that creates the risk that the forests go from being a carbon sink to a source of planet-warming emissions. In 2023, Canadian wildfires spewed out more carbon dioxide than the entire country of Mexico does in a year. That will have grave impacts on public health as well. 'We're girding for a reality where people will be sicker because more parts of the year will be warmer and exposure to the wildfire smoke will happen in unnatural times of the year,' Gupta said. 'It's not good for the body.'All expectations are that this is going to get a lot worse before there's any hope of it getting better.' Toronto Blue Jays Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Editorials Toronto & GTA
Global News
2 days ago
- Global News
Canada's 2025 wildfire season now second-worst on record, fuelled by Prairies blazes
Canada's 2025 wildfire season is now the second-worst on record. The latest figures posted by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre suggest the fires have torn through 72,000 square kilometres, an area roughly the size of New Brunswick. That surpasses the next worst season in 1989 and is about half the area burned during the record-setting 2023 season, according to a federal database of wildfire seasons dating back to 1972. 9:12 Why Canada's forests are more vulnerable to wildfires than ever Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, has made Canada's fire season longer and more intense, scientists say. The last three fire seasons are all in the 10 worst on record. Story continues below advertisement 'We really need to do a lot more to manage our forest, to reduce the impact of climate change and better prepare the communities that are at risk,' said Anabela Bonada, managing director of climate science at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo. This season has displaced thousands of people and stifled communities across Canada with wildfire smoke. View image in full screen A wildfire burns near Pine Grove Resort, about two hours north Prince Albert, Sask. in late May, forcing campers and area residents to scramble to safety from the smoke and flames. Courtesy: Joanne Dorward Manitoba and Saskatchewan account for more than half the area burned so far, but British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario are all also well above their 25-year averages. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Meanwhile, the military and coast guard were called in to help fight fires in Newfoundland and Labrador this week. This season has put a strain on Canada's firefighting resources. The country has been at its highest preparedness level since late May, relying on international help to tackle the fires. Story continues below advertisement There were 446 international firefighters in Canada as of Friday, said Alexandria Jones, a spokesperson for the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which co-ordinates Canada's firefighting response. View image in full screen Smoke rises from a wildfire near Peachland, B.C. on July 30, 2025. Courtesy: Lynn Banfield This season has officials exploring partnerships with countries whose fire season doesn't so closely overlap with Canada's, unlike the United States, Jones said. More firefighters are coming from Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico this year than in years past. In all, about 1,400 international firefighters have helped fight Canadian fires so far this year. 'It is very exhausting work, and it does have impacts on mental health and so we're very cognizant that our crews start to get tired,' Jones said in an interview Friday. 'That's another justification why we bring in more international resources.' Story continues below advertisement 2:04 State of emergency renewed in Manitoba as wildfires continue to rage Bonada, the University of Waterloo expert, said this season has underlined the importance of better preparing for intensifying wildfires. Along with reducing greenhouse gas emissions, she pointed to a slew of possible changes to help communities prepare for the future. At the local level, she suggested communities should be integrating fire breaks into their design, planning safe evacuation routes and completing annual emergency planning exercises, among other things.
