At the end of summer, St. Catharines and other regions across Ontario were hit with extreme thunderstorms, leaving significant damage unlike that of any other storm in recent times.
Climate experts questioned whether these incidents could become more frequent because of rising global temperatures. In an interview with The Brock Press, St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe expressed similar concerns and outlined potential solutions to better prepare the city.
Responding to the severe thunderstorms that “pounded” St. Catharines on July 21, 27 and 28, and again on Aug. 2, Geoff Coulson, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, commented in a CBC article that it’s rare to see the same area hit three times in a short span of time.
“What’s highly unusual this summer was that three of our biggest rainfall events basically went over the same area,” said Coulson.
Mayor Siscoe agreed, calling all three events “fairly unprecedented.”
“The first storm was near our 100-year storm mark on the 21st of July,” said Siscoe.
Severe weather also caused disruption across the Greater Toronto Area, including flooding, fallen trees and power outages. Rogers Stadium in Toronto also sustained “significant damage,” according to Live Nation Canada in a Toronto Star article.
On Sept. 2, Thorold Today predicted dangerous thunderstorms with “destructive wind gusts” were set to hit the Niagara Region.
For Siscoe, the severe weather experienced in the past, along with recent reports from other regions across Ontario, could indicate impacts of a warming climate.
Before becoming mayor, Siscoe worked as a science teacher for 20 years, giving him knowledge of climate change.
“I think we have to accept that climate change is here, that the temperature has increased to the point where now we’re starting to see the effects,” he said.
Coulson similarly told CBC that, while it’s too early to determine whether the St. Catharines storms could represent a new normal, there is a concern that these types of rainstorms could become more frequent throughout the year as temperatures rise.
According to an article by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration outlining the key ingredients for a thunderstorm, humid air provides moisture, which results in thunderstorm development.
Warm, moist air helps fuel thunderstorms by creating stronger rising air. The more moisture in the air, the more energy a storm can gain, leading to stronger and more intense thunderstorms.
“We had a lot of humidity in the low levels of the atmosphere for all three events, and that humidity in the lower levels of the atmosphere is the fuel that drives the storm formation,” Coulson said in the CBC article.
Siscoe proposed that the city should start focusing on adapting to the weather conditions communities are already experiencing to reduce the effects of climate change.
“There is a mitigation aspect that we have to continue to engage in, but there’s an adaptation aspect that we have to engage in as well,” said Siscoe.
One of the biggest challenges in St. Catharines is its old infrastructure. Siscoe said the city has historically relied heavily on larger pipes to move stormwater away. However, the recent storms’ heavy volumes left parts of the city with excess stormwater that further damages sanitary systems.
“The truth is you could upgrade your infrastructure as much as you want; you still would not be able to build a system that could withstand what we experienced in those 12 days,” said Siscoe. “It’s just not possible.”
In response to the storm’s earlier this month, the city has tripled its investment in water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. Siscoe said the recent storms have demonstrated that the increased investment was necessary but stated the city cannot solve the problem alone.
“We have to be upgrading our systems, but we need help from upper levels of government to do that,” said Siscoe.
A month after the flooding, CHCH News reported that some homeowners were still waiting to learn how much their insurance would cover, with one resident saying, “there’s so much damage here I don’t know how you can fix it yourself without some help.”here’s so much damage here I don’t know how you can fix it yourself without some help.”
Siscoe said the city also struggled to provide enough assistance to residents recovering from the flooding, expressing frustration over the lack of support during and after the incident.
“We need help,” said Siscoe, “I need bodies on [site].”
To provide extra assistance, the city relied on off-duty firefighters. However, support is still limited to residents after the damage, highlighting the need for substantial government intervention.
“The decision makers, you know, at upper levels of government haven’t pulled the trigger and said, ‘yes, go do the thing,’” said Siscoe.
With the city facing an estimated $35 million to $45 million in storm-related costs, Siscoe said St. Catharines cannot recover on its own.
“It’s not something that municipalities can fill,” he said. “The property tax base can’t absorb that.”
Looking toward the future, Siscoe says the city needs to consider solutions rather than building larger pipes. One proposal of his is to redesign some city parks to temporarily hold excess stormwater during major rainfall events.
“If we turned every park in the city into a temporary stormwater retention pond, I would imagine our flooding concerns drop pretty dramatically,” Siscoe stated.
If re-elected, Siscoe said he would ask council to pause some park projects while the city develops stormwater absorption designs to respond to future floods. He also plans to work closely with the engineers, facilities and environmental services to ensure infrastructure is correctly and safely built.
“My hope is that we will pause park rehabilitations until we have a plan,” he said. “It might take a year or two to start putting these into place, but […] we will start building these.”
As the city continues planning toward future flood prevention, Siscoe encourages university students to stay engaged in municipal politics and take part in the upcoming mayoral election on Oct. 26.
“[This] generation seems uniquely positioned to force change in this area,” said Siscoe.
“If this is an issue that matters to people, you’ve got to take an interest, and not just at the provincial and federal level,” he said. “Take an interest in the municipal level as well.”