VANCOUVER \u2014 Ryan Ness of the Canadian Climate Institute says he\u2019s been following the \u201cterrible tragedy\u201d of deadly flash flooding unfolding in Texas, where more than 100 people have died.<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s also worried Canada isn\u2019t doing enough to prevent such disasters here, saying the country needs to invest in flood mapping, infrastructure and early warning systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuckily, there are many ways that we can protect ourselves, but we have to make the effort,\u201d said Ness, who is the research director for adaptation at the policy research organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, first of all, we have to understand where the risk is.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said many parts of Canada don\u2019t have flood maps, \u201cso it\u2019s hard to know where to protect or where to send warnings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flood warning systems are also needed to help people in the path of flash floods \u201cprepare or get away, if they can,\u201d while long-term infrastructure upgrades are needed to protect risk zones.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some cases, that means putting things in the houses like backflow valves that keep sewers from backing up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr it can mean building flood walls along rivers to keep flooding from happening. Or it can mean making sure that city planning doesn\u2019t allow more new housing in flood risk zones.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The disaster has put a focus on both the risk of flash flooding as well as how to predict or prevent it.<\/p>\n
Jason Thistlethwaite, professor in the School of Environment at the University of Waterloo, agrees with Ness on the need to limit development in the high-risk areas, calling this the \u201cbiggest line of defence\u201d in Canada.<\/p>\n
He said there was a potential \u201cconflict of interest\u201d for municipal governments that could garner property taxes from developments in flood-risk zones.<\/p>\n
But he said there had been \u201cemerging signs\u201d of leadership, citing the city of Grand Forks, B.C., which is buying out residents in high-risk areas after a devastating 2018 flood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are plenty of examples out there in Canada about how we do this properly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really just a matter of getting the information out and building the political will and (having) upper-tier governments who are willing to sign the cheques.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ness warned that climate change is making flash flooding worse and many Canadian cities, provinces and territories don\u2019t have laws in place to prevent development in dangerous areas.<\/p>\n
He called increased risk of flash flooding and more severe storms \u201cthe new reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flash floods have struck across Canada over the past year, including Coquitlam, B.C., 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.<\/p>\n
Ness said that in hilly areas of B.C.\u2019s Interior with fast water run-off, flash floods can sweep away people\u2019s homes with \u201cvery little warning.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said flash flooding can be made worse in areas burned by wildfire, where soil that is no longer held together by plant life \u201cis much more likely to maybe turn into a mudslide or a landslide.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said other risk areas are in Alberta in the Front Ranges of the Rockies featuring lots of rock and little absorbent soil.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen 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,\u201d said Ness. Massive floods hit the town in 2013.<\/p>\n
In Montreal and Toronto, flash floods are usually due to paved areas with no soil to soak up heavy rain, Ness said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the water rises very quickly in rivers and streams that run through those areas, and it also rises very quickly in sewers, and that\u2019s what backs up into people\u2019s basements most often, and causes basement flooding,\u201d said Ness.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t an easy fix.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s another reason to start making these investments as soon as possible, because it is going to take some time. But climate change isn\u2019t going to wait,\u201d said Ness.<\/p>\n
He said Canada needs to adapt for flash flooding much more quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
With files from The Associated Press <\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2025. <\/p>\n
Nono Shen, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VANCOUVER \u2014 Ryan Ness of the Canadian Climate Institute says he\u2019s been following the \u201cterrible tragedy\u201d of deadly…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2147,2693,746,1571,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-49501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-disaster","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-national","12":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114819320103715874","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}