New report shows B.C. communities must be more resilient from natural disasters in order to stay safe

KAMLOOPS — A new expert panel report from the Council of Canadian Academies says communities need to be more resilient from natural disasters in order to stay safe.

Thompson Rivers University (TRU) professor Mike Flannigan is one of Canada’s top wildfire researchers. He is on the panel of experts that produced the report.

After a year of heat waves, wildfires, and flooding in the Interior region, he says people need to start being proactive when it comes to natural disasters.

“We spend a lot of money on response and not enough on preparedness, and prevention and mitigation,” Flannigan says. “So much of the report is emphasizing that we should be spending more time trying to prevent — and if we can’t prevent them, mitigate, and if they do occur, to be better prepared.”

The report points out that communities, like Kamloops, need to update their emergency plans that were based off past weather patterns.

“The past is a good guide to the future. But because of climate change, we’re seeing many more extremes that it’s not such a good guide — so we have to build these into our emergency management plans,” Flannigan says.

It also suggests that insurance policies can be adapted to build resilience within a community by offering incentives for safeguarded homes.

“The report draws welcome attention to the need to up our game,” Insurance Bureau of Canada (ICB) Vice President at the Insurance Bureau of Canada (ICB) Craig Stewart says.

ICB says many insurance companies offer lower premiums to homes that are fire smarted, like the ones in Logan Lake, or for houses with backwater flood valves that can be vital in protecting your home from a flood. But it says more can be done.

“Insurers have been asking the federal government to lead the way to develop a home rating system for the country where homeowners can find out ‘What am I at risk from? and ‘What can I do to lessen that risk?’” Stewart told CFJC News.

He says ICB is working with realtors across the country to add property risks to real estate listings, for instance, if a home is built on a floodplain. But Flannigan says people should stop living on high-risk land, like floodplains, altogether.

“If it floods, it’s going to flood again. So, when we plan new subdivisions, we shouldn’t use existing floodplains. We should look at what to expect in the future and take that into account and say, ‘is it going to be safe from flooding?’” Flannigan says.

He says the main message in the ‘Building a Resilient Canada’ report is that its time to prepare for climate change is now.

“I’ve been studying climate change for over three decades and what I’m seeing in British Columbia is surprising me. I wasn’t expecting this until the 2030s or the 2040s and we’re seeing it now.”

To read the full report, click here.