The flooding and the damage done, Blair Feltmate comments

Heavy rainfall and record-setting water levels in the Great Lakes led to widespread flooding across Ontario this year. Now the waters are retreating, and soaked communities across the province are starting to count their losses. But how do you put a price on the damage?

“When we talk about the costs associated with basement flooding, to date we've almost always been talking about it in the context of a property and casualty insurance perspective but not the mental health perspective,” says Blair Feltmate, Water Institute member and director of the Intact Centre for Climate Change Adaptation at the University of Waterloo.

Feltmate and his colleagues are conducting a pilot program to help homeowners prepare for extreme rainfall, starting with 4,000 Burlington households. The Centre is helping homeowners implement low-cost measures, such as rerouting the downspout away from the house, installing a backwater valve to prevent drains from overflowing, and ensuring the sump pump works.

Read the full story in TVO.