Flooding is a top concern for Essex residents — and climate change is the missing link in flood mitigation

It’s spring in Windsor-Essex — and that means possible flooding, and the worries that come with it for many, are looming.

Harrow resident Gord Nascimento says climate-change related floods are causing a lot of anxiety for him and his neighbours, as the community is bracing for the upcoming flooding season — and experts say the impacts of climate change need to be factored into both municipal and federal plans.

“With the climate change and global warming, flooding is just becoming more frequent,” said Nascimento, owner of the Harrow Home Hardware Building Centre.

“There’s a lot of anxiety amongst the people in this town because it seems to be reoccurring over and over again.”

In August 2023, Harrow and other parts of Essex County were heavily flooded. Nascimento remembers it well: Ditches were overflowing and sand bags at his business’ entrance were fighting to stop the water.

At one point, he says they used a forklift to shuttle people in and out of the store and some “people were actually kayaking” to get their flood mitigation supplies.

At his home, Nascimento said water kept finding its way into his then-recently renovated basement. Against his best efforts, water seeped under the floor into the concrete, lifting the floors and saturating the drywall from the bottom.

A restoration company had to tear it out, and while Nascimento had overland flood insurance, his claim was about $270,000, covered by his insurance.

“I was able to get that fixed, but there’s a lot of people who didn’t have coverage,” he said. “My neighbours all across the street had their basements gutted due to the sewers backing up into their basements.”

Since then, Nascimento has installed water alarms, a backup generator and a four foot high retaining wall around his basement entrance — but he said the possibility of flooding causes “never ending” stress.

And, he says, local flood mitigation efforts need work to keep up with the frequency of floods.

Why is this area so prone to flooding? 

And that flooding is becoming more frequent, says the CAO of the Essex Region Conservation Authority.

Tim Byrne says that because the region is “so flat and low lying” compared to nearby water bodies, the region is “highly susceptible to flooding at any given time throughout the year.”

The water, he said, comes in a sheet runoff that “quickly overwhelms the smaller tributaries” in the area. Flooding most often occurs in the spring and fall — but he said climate change is worsening it.

“Of late with what we’ve observed for climate variability and climate change, the thunderstorm systems are tending to be much larger and more slower moving,” he said. “Systems tend to come into this region, sit and drop substantial amounts of precipitation, more than what has been recorded historically.”

In a new joint report , Canada’s environment commissioner and auditor general found federal efforts to map parts of the country facing the highest risk of flooding are not on track to finish by the 2028 target date, and that they’re not factoring in climate change.

ERCA considers rainfall of 125 millimetres in 12 hours to be a one in 100 year flood event.

Harrow’s worst flood on record happened in July 1989, when the region received 450 millimetres of rainin a 30-hour period, prompting massive flooding.

“From that time to the present, there’s been at least eight systems that have hit this region that have rainfall levels exceeding 150 millimetres of rainfall,” he said, though they’re not considered once in a century floods because the rain fell over too small an area.

ERCA is also working with the National Research Council Canada to do some additional analysis on behalf of the Town of Essex to better identify hazardous places, develop new strategies, policies, and update regulatory framework for flood protection.

Flood task force needed: Essex mayor

Understanding these challenges Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy said she is proposing a flood task force that would include local experts — like generational farmers, scientists and plumbers, who have knowledge about historical rainfall and flooding patterns.

She said she still vividly remembers the 2023 flood, and since then, she said flooding has been the biggest issue she’s heard about from residents.

“That’s what the task force will look at — Where should we be developing? What does development look like?,” she said.

“I also want the task force to look at our capital plan, that lays out which roads, sewers, and water works should be done.

“That capital plan, in my opinion, should be based on flooding.”

She said the task force, if approved by council, will not only inform people about subsidies and existing information but also educate people on different amenities and who pays for them. She also urges residents to ensure their homes are flood ready and well-maintained.

“We know that the province gives out money for new homes, but I think it’s time we build data so we can go to the province and say, ‘our existing homes are already in trouble,’” she said.

“Everything we do from a municipal point of view, has to have resiliency and adaptation into it. That’s what I would hope that the task force could lead us in.”

The decision on the task force has been deferred to the next council meeting.

Anneke Smit, director of the Centre for Cities at University of Windsor, “cash and resource strapped municipalities are also struggling.”

“It is discouraging to see the lack of priority that is placed on climate mitigation in particular. Municipally, I would say this region has not been a leader in that way,” she said.

Smit said land use planning should better factor in climate change.

“What we are definitely missing is a more forward-facing focus. Biodiversity loss and urban sprawl are massive challenges,” she said.

“We’re missing the carbon sinks, the porous lands that will absorb the floods. We have in some cases developed on lands that are known to be floodplains. Those are the things we cannot afford to do anymore.”

She said a climate change focus should be baked into land use and infrastructure planning decisions.

“Climate change is something that has to run across the full gamut of municipal governance, but it’s not yet.”