New flood response plan delayed in Burlington

In a city council meeting today (August 7), municipal officials alongside Mayor Marianne Meed Ward took stock of the damage that occurred during July’s flash floods that impacted Burlington.

Throughout the meeting, city officials discussed the importance of effective communication and cooperation during flood response efforts — and more importantly — what steps can be taken in the event of a similar incident. 

Primary issues raised by several councilors focused on the nature of Burlington’s infrastructure and how it can be fortified to withstand the relentless new standard of rainwater and mitigate corresponding flood channels that may occur. 

Solutions discussed throughout the council meeting included ongoing creek and waterway inspections that take stock of erosion impacting restraining walls and assess any debris that may cause rainwater overflow. 

However, certain council members indicated that Burlington is no small area and that data collected via these inspections will take time to weave into real-time solutions. 

“I think we need to wait for our analysis — and that analysis needs to occur in partnership needs to happen with the Region of Halton,” said Hassaan Basit, Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Burlington during the meeting. 

The foundation for Basit’s tapping of the brakes for solutions mainly coincided with jurisdictional management — as according to him — intake systems for flood water fall upon the Region of Halton and any emergency response efforts strictly belong to the City of Burlington. 

Additional concerns raised throughout the council included Burlington’s emergency flood response — or lack thereof.

“There was a lot of discussion earlier in council about being proactive — and a lot of that was about funding. However, being proactive here means preparing for something and having that emergency preparedness, maybe even an emergency preparedness plan that is specific to flooding,” said Basit during the meeting. 

However, Basit quickly noted during the council meeting that any new cross-regional plan would have to wait until the next budget cycle for the City of Burlington to be considered.