P.E.I. ranks at the bottom for flood preparedness

P.E.I. has a lot of work to do prepare for floods, according to a new report out of the University of Waterloo.

P.E.I. scored a D overall in the report, tied with British Columbia for the lowest grade in the country. Overall, Canada scored a C.

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The Island reached the national average in only two of 12 categories wastewater systems and drainage system maintenance and did not exceed the average in any. P.E.I.'s electricity supply and transportation systems were found to be particularly vulnerable, and the province was found to be behind on adaptation audits of both commercial and residential properties.

"Land use planning, that showed up to be a little bit weak," said study author Blair Feltmate, "ensuring that once you've delineated where the water's going to go during the big floods, are we making sure we're not building in areas that are going to be flood prone."

The report was prompted by the expectation of more extreme weather events with the advent of climate change. Its findings are based on surveys administered from December of last year to this April.

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