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  #1  
Old Posted Jul 9, 2013, 4:40 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Is Halifax prepared to handle extreme rainfall?

Reading about and seeing the photos of the extreme flooding that both Calgary and Toronto have experienced recently has made me wonder how well Halifax would fare given the same situation?

I'm not aware of any extreme rainfall events in the Halifax area that might have been strong enough to have tested our drainage systems recently, but I do recall seeing, for example, the Sackville River overflow its banks in Bedford in the past couple of years, but I believe this was the result of a combination of rainfall and snow melt. I don't recall much flooding from Hurricane Juan, but that was more of a wind/storm surge event than a rain event (I think around 40-50 mm fell). Hurricane Beth in 1971 dropped around 260 mm over 30 hours and resulted in widespread flooding in the city.

Toronto had 120 mm in a short time and it just wreaked havoc on them, as anybody who has been following the news would know. Calgary experienced rainfall amounts up to 200 mm in some places, but their ground was already saturated from previous rainfall (40 mm the day before, I believe).

It seems that what we used to think of as 100-year storms are becoming the norm, so I ask the question to those familiar with the details of our infrastructure: If we were hit with 120-200 mm of rain in a short time, would our infrastructure handle it? Moreso, would we be prepared to deal with the consequences?

Thanks in advance...
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  #2  
Old Posted Jul 9, 2013, 10:45 PM
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Keith P. Keith P. is offline
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In the early '70s a rain-event hurricane did a lot of damage in Dartmouth. I recall severe flooding in the area around Sullivans Pond and also on Main St near the water supply, just past NSCC. I'm sure there was other localized flooding.
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  #3  
Old Posted Jul 9, 2013, 11:10 PM
DigitalNinja DigitalNinja is offline
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Halifax doesn't have to worry so so much about extreme rainfall, it's very hilly, lots of drainage into the ocean, lakes and rivers. The only ones who would need to worry are the ones who live near to these. About the Sackville River, that area in beford was all an overflow area for the river in the past, they built there, their fault if it floods.

Also, although weather may be getting more "extreme" there are also a ton more people living in areas. Although there used to be 100 year storms that affected an area, well there are a lot more areas where people are living, many living in areas that they shouldn't be that are prone to extreme weather, such as Tornado valley
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Old Posted Jul 10, 2013, 12:53 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith P. View Post
In the early '70s a rain-event hurricane did a lot of damage in Dartmouth. I recall severe flooding in the area around Sullivans Pond and also on Main St near the water supply, just past NSCC. I'm sure there was other localized flooding.
In the climate normal data, the record for total rain at Shearwater was 185 mm on August 15, 1971.

Most of the low-lying areas around the Sackville River aren't intensively developed. There's a ballpark by the 102 for example which is one of the most flood-prone areas. That being said, I used to work in one of the office buildings across from Sunnyside and the parkade would occasionally get filled with several feet of water.
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Old Posted Jul 10, 2013, 1:14 AM
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Waye Mason Waye Mason is offline
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Prepared is relative. Getting a months worth of rain in 2 hours is pretty much impossible to handle.

"Brian Edwards, a meteorologist with forecasting service Accuweather.com, said a cluster of extremely slow-moving thunderstorms was responsible for the deluge.
“It was almost as if the system refused to move . . . it stood there and rained and rained,” he said. “Nobody could have guessed at the amount of rain it would unleash.”
Flooding was inevitable, Edwards said, adding that no infrastructure can possibly handle that kind of rain.
But Phillips points out that Toronto, like other cities, is becoming more vulnerable to flooding as more of it is covered with asphalt. Building materials are impervious to rain and so “we end up with flash floods,” he said."

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/toro...ally_epic.html
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  #6  
Old Posted Jul 10, 2013, 4:45 AM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Originally Posted by someone123 View Post
In the climate normal data, the record for total rain at Shearwater was 185 mm on August 15, 1971.

Most of the low-lying areas around the Sackville River aren't intensively developed. There's a ballpark by the 102 for example which is one of the most flood-prone areas. That being said, I used to work in one of the office buildings across from Sunnyside and the parkade would occasionally get filled with several feet of water.
Hurricane Beth
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  #7  
Old Posted Jul 10, 2013, 4:53 AM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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While typically Halifax and Dartmouth are quite hilly and will likely not be affected, there are some areas that will be susceptible to flooding, as this news article from Oct. 2010 shows after about 80 mm of rain...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...va-scotia.html
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  #8  
Old Posted Jul 10, 2013, 1:46 PM
Drybrain Drybrain is offline
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For an oceanfront city, Halifax is strangely well situated to handle climate change, due to the steep rise out of the harbour. The waterfront, Historic Properties, and the shipyards are vulnerable, but the bulk of the city is well above sea level. (Dartmouth has some of that protection too, but is much lower and more susceptible in the long term). Compare to NYC, say, much of which could basically be a floodplain in 50 years. Or worse, Boston, which is low-lying, filled with rivers, and a huge portion of which is built on landfill.

This tool is a fun/scary way to look at how sea-level rise could affect different parts of the world.

Of course we could see more hurricanes/extreme weather, which is bad for other reasons.

But as to what Waye said: Toronto got 120 mm of rain. There was a lot of hand-wringing in the press about why the city couldn't handle the storm, but really, that amount of water is impossible to prepare for unless you basically turn the city into a giant drainage system. The city had never, in recorded history, had that much rain in a 24-hour period before, and most of it fell within only one hour. Considering the extremity of the downpour, the aftermath wasn't so bad
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  #9  
Old Posted Jul 10, 2013, 1:53 PM
Nilan8888 Nilan8888 is offline
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Quote:
Halifax doesn't have to worry so so much about extreme rainfall, it's very hilly, lots of drainage into the ocean, lakes and rivers. The only ones who would need to worry are the ones who live near to these. About the Sackville River, that area in beford was all an overflow area for the river in the past, they built there, their fault if it floods.
This.

As a current resident of TO but grew up in Halifax whose house flooded LAST year (but strangely was left unscathed this week -- my power didn't even go out), I'd say that while Halifax is not immune to the effects of heavy rainfall, the hills ensure a somewhat easier time of it. Consider it the tradeoff of the historically farm-friendly region of southern Ontario. With a few exceptions the land here tends to be very flat, and water pools very easily. Halifax's hills aren't, say, the size of Fredericton's ginormous slope, but they're sufficient to make drainage a bit easier.

Quote:
For an oceanfront city, Halifax is strangely well situated to handle climate change, due to the steep rise out of the harbour. The waterfront, Historic Properties, and the shipyards are vulnerable, but the bulk of the city is well above sea level. (Dartmouth has some of that protection too, but is much lower and more susceptible in the long term). Compare to NYC, say, much of which could basically be a floodplain in 50 years. Or worse, Boston, which is low-lying, filled with rivers, and a huge portion of which is built on landfill.
Or to Vancouver! Cripes, all of Richmond is beneath the waves!

Halifax would have to do some adjusting, but it looks like even St. John's would have a bigger problem on their hands.
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  #10  
Old Posted Jul 10, 2013, 3:08 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Drybrain View Post
This tool is a fun/scary way to look at how sea-level rise could affect different parts of the world.
Hey that's neat! Thanks!

Looks like the peninsula doesn't become an island until 30m, so we're good...

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  #11  
Old Posted Jul 10, 2013, 3:14 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Thanks for all the replies.

That's pretty much my take on how it would be. We've seen some pretty torrential rains in the past, especially the late winter/early spring rains when there was a lot of snow melt involved, and the flooding I've seen would be described as minor at best, when looked at macroscopically.

Just thought I'd pick the great minds of skyscraperville to see if there were any points I overlooked.

It's not to say that we are immune from disaster, as the strength of hurricanes that reach here could increase with climate change, but again the risk is from wind, not rain. As drybrain's link points out, even potential damage from storm surge would be somewhat minimal for Halifax.

Yet another reason on why this is such a great place to live!

Cheers!
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