Burlington Is Facing a New Breed of Storms!

Canadians are facing a ‘new breed’ of storms, and governments should change the way they plan for the kind of wild weather that caused a flash flood in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

And not only in Canada. All around the world, infrastructure is aging and breaking down.

‘It’s like these are bulls-eyes.’—Dave Phillips, senior climatologist, Environment Canada, about intense local storms. “These [once in] 50-year floods are occurring every 10 years, because our climate has changed,” he said.

On July 15, 2015, Burlington City Council voted to approve an additional $20.4 million to funds already budgeted for storm water infrastructure improvements in Burlington. These additional funds will be spent over the next 10 years in storm water management capital upgrades, such as larger creek culverts and creek channel improvements.

On April 23, 2019, city council unanimously passed a motion to declare a climate change emergency. This was brought forward by Councillor Rory Nisan. The City is working on a Climate Action Plan, Corporate Energy Management Plan, Storm Water Design Standards and Urban Forest Management Plan.

How does destroying over 400 mature trees in Burlington help our City in fighting this Climate Emergency?