The Londoner: London's Community Newspaper : News = Pages

The big flood of 1937, on which London bases most of its = current high=20 water plans and policies, is seen as an event that happens once = every 250=20 years.

So the next big flood, theoretically speaking, isn=92t due = until the year=20 2187, right?

Well, probably no =96 at least if global warming predictions = are correct.=20 And, says Slobodan Simonovic, a professor at Western, research = chairperson=20 of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, and a person who = studies=20 extreme weather for a living, they almost certainly are.

Dr. Simonovic made one of several linked presentations to city=20 council=92s environment and transportation committee (ETC) Monday = night=20 which warned, in effect, London needs to rapidly update its risk=20 assessment of the consequences of another big flood.

And taxpayers also need to get prepared for a big bill to cover = the=20 associated costs.

Added Peter Steblin, the city engineer: =93Weather patterns are = changing.=20 We could go another 10 or 20 years before we have a significant = event =96 or=20 it could happen tomorrow.=94

In the context of planning for a lot of unexpected water and = what to do=20 with it, the city has developed models based on historic weather = data. Dr.=20 Simonovic warned, however, those models are now obsolete because = of rapid=20 changes towards extremes in weather patterns.

For example, Peterborough got hit with two storms, both = considered in=20 the 250-year range, within a short period of time. The last one, = in 2004,=20 dumped 250 mm. of rain =96 that=92s 10 inches =96 on the eastern = Ontario city in=20 24 hours, more than half of it in four hours. Existing storm sewer = systems=20 were overwhelmed and there was extensive flooding and a $100 = million=20 cleanup bill.

London has seen some serious weather, to. On July 9, 2000, a = series of=20 thunderstorms dumped 173 mm. of rain on the city =96 which was = pretty close=20 to 250-year expectations. There was minor flooding, but existing = systems=20 were taxed to the limit.

Many of the storm draining systems London depends on are = decades old=20 and were built to standards not considered reasonable today. = Fixing them =96=20 and that would be a long-term prospect, says Ron Standish, the = city=92s=20 director of wastewater and treatment =96 would be very = expensive.

In the shorter term, however, the city can develop standards = more in=20 keeping with growing fears that it could apply to new = developments. One=20 consequence of that would be an increase to new housing costs to = pay for=20 bigger storm-water management systems.

It could also redraw the high water mark of its flood plain,=20 restricting development in areas where flooding could occur if = there was a=20 major storm, or build higher dikes to protect facilities =96 like = the Oxford=20 St. pollution plant =96 that could be threatened by flooding.

The University of Western Ontario, among others, might be = unhappy with=20 a change in the floodplain. Much of its undeveloped property would = be=20 below the line and therefore could face significant building=20 restrictions.

Yes, but =93we=92re not in danger of becoming a New Orleans in = the near=20 future?=94 speculated ETC member Cheryl Miller (Ward 14).

=93There are no guarantees in life,=94 Mr. Steblin responded. = =93What we are=20 seeing is that the potential for that is going up.=94

ETC is now recommending to city council =96 which will vote on = the matter=20 this coming Monday =96 that work begin immediately on updating its = risk=20 assessment studies. Before the year is out, that work will lead to = a new=20 round of discussions about how valid are the concerns about = changing=20 climate and how ready is London to cope with a new reality on the = part of=20 Mother Nature.

CANDID CAMERA =96 ETC member Stephen Orser (Ward 4), has = pushed=20 the city into the first step that could lead to cameras in all of = London=92s=20 320 taxis.

The cameras would take a picture of every passenger, but these = would be=20 made available only to the police in the event the taxi was = involved in=20 some kind of incident.

Taxi cameras have been credited with a significant decline in = violence=20 against taxi drivers in places like Toronto, Montreal and = Winnipeg.=20 Windsor is in the process of making cameras mandatory, its answer = to the=20 recent slaying of a cab driver.

Councillor Orser, himself a former taxi driver, doesn=92t want = London to=20 wait until that happens here.