Catastrophic flooding in British Columbia
Confronted with the rising costs of widespread flooding as seen in British Columbia this past week, governments will have to mobilize and work to invest in proactive adaptation and disaster recovery strategies. Regardless the impacts of climate change can be seen right across the province with major transportation routes disrupted by mudslides and the failure of critical infrastructure systems as seen in the city of Merritt, B.C., where the municipal wastewater treatment plant was inundated forcing thousands to evacuate. These climate disasters point to major weaknesses in our built infrastructure, the lack of up-to-date climate risk information and siloed government efforts in emergency management. Delaying investments for climate-resilient infrastructure can have cascading impacts for future flood risk preparedness and result in colossal recovery costs for communities across Canada.
(Left) Heavy rains and mudlsides caused roads to collapse on the Coquihalla highway in B.C. (Photo Credit: Jonathan Hayward/ The Canadian Press, 2021) (Right) Widespread flooding in Merritt, B.C. forces thousands to evacuate (Photo Credit: CTV News).
Recap: Alliances for Climate Action
The Resilient Nation Partnership Network, FEMA and NASA recently hosted the 6th annual forum on Alliances for Climate Action throughout October which featured a virtual forum series that explored the themes of resilience, climate, equity, retreat and narratives that inspired change. The 4-week forum brought together over 35 leaders representing 31 organizations who shared insights on climate induced migration strategies, financing climate action, natural hazard mitigation, and climate adaptation actions to help communities become more resilient towards natural disasters and climate related threats.
The session titled 'When climate moves communities' featured Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts; Dr. Pablo Mendez-Lazaro, Associate Professor at the Department of Environmental Health at the University of Puerto Rico; Dr. A.R. Side, Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware; Rhonda Haag, Chief Resilience Officer of Monroe County, FL; and Commissioner Dennis Knobloch, former Mayor of Valmeyer, IL.
Panelists highlighted the growing importance of employing community led managed retreat processes that would help to increase participation in coastal areas whilst avoiding climate gentrification and investing in climate resilient infrastructure for communities that might not be able to relocate. They noted that despite the use of a resilience as a positive term used to describe climate adaptation measures, many communities have begun using the term ‘toxic resiliency’ to refer to a type of resiliency where there is an expectation that some communities are expected to endure climate impacts and not receive the proper investments in order to be able to adapt in place or move effectively where they need to move. Dr. Siders noted the equity implications surrounding managed retreat and the challenges that federal governments face with getting resources to local governments who might not necessarily have the capacity to apply for them but certainly need it the most. The call to action which echoed throughout the session reiterated the need for tools like property buyouts and affordable housing to support community wide retreat strategies.
Learn more about the Alliances for Climate Action.