“How high’s the water, Mama?” 

For those who aren’t Johnny Cash fans, the line above comes from his famous song, “Five Feet High and Rising.” It’s about a family’s personal experience with flooding, which, unfortunately, might hit a little too close to home for many in British Columbia. 

Like wildfires, which I discussed in a recent blog post, flooding is a fact of life in BC and has been for a long time. From mountainside streams and picturesque rivers to placid lakes and the broad expanse of the ocean, our province is flush with waterfront locations. They’re a source of serenity, but they can also bring great hazards. 

As we approach the peak of the spring freshet – the annual surge in river and stream water levels from melting snow and ice – it’s a good time to review flood safety tips and take a closer look at how flood risks are assessed in BC. 

Watch the Warnings 

Property owners in at-risk areas should monitor the BC River Forecast Centre to anticipate the potential impacts of a high river flow. The Forecast Centre issues three levels of warnings: 

1. High Streamflow Advisory: River levels are rising or expected to rise rapidly, but no major flooding is expected. Minor flooding in low-lying areas is possible.  

2. Flood Watch: River levels are rising and will approach or may exceed bankfull. Flooding of areas adjacent to affected rivers may occur. 

3. Flood Warning: River levels have exceeded bankfull or will exceed bankfull imminently, and flooding of areas adjacent to the rivers affected will result.  

You should always be prepared with a “go bag” in case of flooding or wildfires. As warnings escalate, so should your readiness to evacuate. 

The Challenges of Flooding Risk Assessment 

Those who read my previous blog on wildfires will know about plans for provincial and regional disaster and climate risk and resilience assessments. The challenge of risk assessments is the availability of good data to determine risk levels for local areas and specific properties. In many cases, there are several factors that make up flood risk. Without constantly refreshed data, assessments can become “stale” quite quickly.  

For example, one might think that flood risk due to sea level rise should be fairly easy to predict because the change is so gradual and is likely occurring at approximately the same rate along the entire coastline. However, the impact of king tides, which are higher at different points along the coast, and the variable heights of storm surges make such forecasting challenging. 

The existence of accurate, current floodplain maps is also a major issue. BCREA’s 2021 study on BC Floodplain Mapping found that over 60 per cent of surveyed municipalities were lacking a current floodplain map, and over half reported that they have little or no in-house flood management expertise.  

What’s more, floodplain maps must be kept current, because every flood event can change the hydrodynamics of the previous streambed, and the next set of high waters could be directed in a different path than in past years. 

The provincial government has recently launched a much more extensive response to threats from flooding, rolling out the BC Flood Strategy in March 2024. BC Housing has also been working on an initiative called Mobilizing Building Adaptation and Resilience. This program seeks to help homeowners protect their properties from the risks associated with climate change.  

Flood Insurance and Preparedness 

There is also the issue of insurance and financing of properties at risk. As mentioned in my wildfire blog, insurance companies in the United States have already begun restricting renewals of policies in flood-prone areas such as Florida, where multiple hurricanes have resulted in massive insured losses in recent years. 

Significant losses in Calgary and Southern Alberta in 2013 ($5 to $6 billion), as well as the 2021 BC atmospheric river ($5 billion estimated), demonstrate the extreme damage potential of major flood events closer to home. Also, as with wildfires, reconstruction of damaged properties places additional weight on an already strained building sector, potentially elevating costs and delaying efforts to build sufficient new homes in communities.

However, such abstract numbers as the ones mentioned above do not tell the story of human suffering – homes and valuables destroyed, long rehabilitation / reconstruction times, and, in the worst cases, lives lost.  

That's why it's as important as ever that we all prepare as well as we can, checking insurance coverage, assessing risks in advance, keeping tabs on flood conditions as they develop, and protecting ourselves and our families in the event of an emergency.

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