Weather And Climate Perspective (W&CP) On Extreme Rainfall In Canada

Note: Various resources are referenced below. Additional resources may be made available via Moodle.

To develop your journalistic account, answer the following six questions. Hints are provided to assist you in framing your response from a weather and climate perspective (W&CP).

Who? - In answering “Who was involved?”, a W&CP requires you think beyond the biosphere to include (at least) the rainfall itself (was it given a name?) and the atmosphere. Was it a single event? Are there other spheres of the Earth system that are affected?

What? - Again, to emphasize a W&CP, “What happened?” requires you to include the rainfall and the atmosphere (minimally) in succinctly capturing this part of the account. If the rainfall is regarded as the cause, were there any effects of the extreme rainfall event(s)?

Where? - Here, to emphasize a W&CP, locate the affected areas in relative terms (e.g., relative to a city, region, province, ... ) as well as absolute terms (i.e., via latitude and longitude, if possible). In addition to locating places, try to ‘locate’ the rainfall quantitatively using observations from the surface and beyond. In addition to past and present, is there a future aspect of “Where?” that needs to be accounted for?

(Note: Even if you are located in Ontario (close to York), you do not need to build up a localaccount; in other words, feel free to focus on extreme Spring rainfall in Quebec, elsewhere in Canada, or somewhere else entirely.)

When? - In responding to the question of “When did it take place?”, is it clear that there is atimespan involved - a timespan punctuated by various events that emphasize a W&CP? In addition to past and present, is there a future aspect of “When?” that needs to be accounted for?

Why? - In emphasizing “Why did it happen?” from a W&CP, is it possible to identify a natural/anthropogenic root cause (with any degree of certainty)? How does the broader setting, beyond humans and the atmosphere, support or oppose ‘the why’ (if at all)? (Note: You are not © L. I. Lumb - Sharing prohibited. Violators subject tolegal and/or academic consequences. 1 expected to delve into the details of precipitation mechanisms - this topic will receive attentionlater in the course.)

How? - In emphasizing “How did it happen?” from a W&CP, is it possible to identify processesinvolved in initiating and evolving the rainfall event(s)? Can these processes be linked (i.e., connected) to delineate process flows?

The Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How of the Extreme Rainfall in Canada

Answer 1.

In May 7, 2017; a heavy rainfall happened in Canada. It is a combination of thunderstorm, melting snow and heavy rainfall which caused flood. These events also affect the life of human, animals, cause destruction to the buildings, soils, trees and damage to the crops.

The territory of Quebec was hardest hit, with almost 1 900 homes overwhelmed starting at early May 8, 2017. Southern Quebec was hit by flood on 3 May 2017. After the excess amount of rainfall, 2426 houses were flooded, 2720 individuals were rehabilitated from their homes, and 146 regions were damaged. Montreal and Laval then announced a highly sensitive situation over the flooding. The flooding is accounted for from the Ontario outskirt to the Gaspe landmass, crosswise over 130 regions. On Sunday, May 7, 800 Canadian Armed Forces individuals were added to 400 as of now helping inhabitants manage extraordinary flooding. "The troops, alongside flying machine and 12 vessels from the Naval Reserve, were being situated to help groups crosswise over Quebec, a few of which are under a highly sensitive situation," Defense Ministry said in a discharge. Montreal specialists proclaimed the crisis after three dams gave route in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro ward, in the north end of the city by the Rivieres des Prairies.

Answer 2.

The heavy rainfall in Canada and the melting of snow has resulted flood in the rivers of Canada and overflow the banks from Montreal to Ottawa. This in result cause evacuation of more than 1000 people from the Quebec province, in 140 towns and cities approximately 2000 or more houses were flooded which were evacuated on an immediate basis. The ground has become saturated and is further unable to absorb water. The biggest affect of flood are death, damage to houses and other buildings, damage to sewerage pipelines, underground electricity wiring, waterways and roadways.

Flood also destroys electrical transmission and sometimes causes loss of energy. This fuses loss of drinking water treatment and water supply, which may realize loss of drinking water or bigger water sullying. In this manner it brings about the loss of sewage exchange offices. Unavailability of clean water together with human sewage in the water of the flood raises the threat of waterborne disorders, which can consolidate typhoid, cholera and various distinctive diseases in and surroundings of the surge.

A portion of the contaminants coursing through Quebec's Richelieu River and Manitoba's Assiniboine River can likewise advance the spread of gagging algal blossoms and gather on delicate fish living space. Destruction of streets and transport may make it hard to activate help to those influenced or to give crisis wellbeing treatment (Saint-Laurent et al.2017).

Financial loss occurs due to a decrease in tourism, expenses of construction of houses or drastic decrease especially in financial increments is a common eventual outcome of extreme flooding. The mental effect is that the people who are living there are affected and they were suffering from the post panic attack of the flood, specifically where death has occurred, genuine wounds and loss of property happen. A highly sensitive situation was reported and 1,900 homes have been overflowed crosswise over 126 towns and urban communities in the east of Canada, over the territory of Quebec (Gonzalez et al,) Insurance is provided to sufferers against flood damage to both homes and organizations. The substance of flooding urban sewage frameworks and huge amounts of cultivating chemicals in provincial zones are being flushed into interfacing biological communities.

The Effects of Extreme Rainfall on Human and Natural Systems

Answer 3.

The Montreal city in the Quebec province was mainly affected by flood due to heavy rains and melting of snow due to the rise in temperature. This in result cause evacuation of more than 1000 people from the Quebec province, in 140 towns and cities approximately 2000 or more houses were flooded which were evacuated on an immediate basis.

In Montreal and eight different regions, highly sensitive situations have been announced. Compulsory evacuations are additionally occurring in Montreal. Military experts on Sunday tripled the quantity of troops attempting to empty a huge number of inhabitants. The town of Rigaud, west of Montreal, has been hit especially hard. The Ministry of Public Safety said waters were relied upon to peak in Quebec at some point Monday. Somewhere in the range of 450 troops had been dispatched by Saturday to help set up sandbags and help with clearings in Quebec, yet that number was set to triple before the finish of Sunday (Boivin, Buffin-Bélanger and Piégay 2017).

Water levels were ascending crosswise over quite a bit of a zone of somewhere in the range of 500 kilometers, from Toronto and Lake Ontario and extending downstream along the St. Lawrence River. Head administrator Justin Trudeau on Sunday made a trip to Terrasse-Vaudreuil, around 40 kilometers west of Montreal, to study harm, a representative said. Condition Canada cautioned that, "The ground, effectively close immersion, has little capacity to retain facilitate precipitation." "Indeed, even shallow, quick moving water over a street can clear a vehicle or a man away," it said. School, recreation centers and other open structures all through the region have opened their ways to public (McCave 2017).

Because of flooding, Quebec's vehicle office shut the Galipeault Bridge, a noteworthy supply route associating the island of Île-Perrot and Montreal along Highway 20, in both bearings Sunday. "It's a security measure to ensure the range is alright for drivers," Transports Québec representative Martin Girard stated, including they are observing the basic uprightness of the extension. He couldn't state when the scaffold may revive. "It will rely on upon the level of water around the extension," he said (Lachance-Cloutier, Turcotte and Cyr 2017).

As indicated by media reports, the town of Rigaud, west of Montreal, was hit especially hard. The town issued an obligatory departure arrange Sunday, yet was at that point in a highly sensitive situation for a few days. Rigaud Mayor Hans Gruenwald Jr. said firefighters are going way to way to ensure individuals in influenced ranges leave their homes (Qian et al. 2017).

"We will take after the fire office and really expel the general population if need be," Gruenwald said. "Since it is either that or administrations will be adhered to expel those individuals under a highly sensitive situation at two o'clock in the morning on a stretcher – I'm sad however we are not going to go there." "Individuals must be cleared, and we place them in water crafts and they are sobbing hysterically," Gruenwald said later. "I am sad; they are at a point where now they are not in a position to choose any longer their own particular future” (Tan, Gan and Chen 2017).

Environmental and Economic Damage Caused by Extreme Rainfall

In the interim, in British Columbia, on the inverse side of the nation, a similar mix of rain and snowmelt has brought about flooding and mudslides that left no less than two individuals missing, including the fire head of the town of Cache Creek, who had been out checking water levels. A 76-year-old man, as well, disappeared after a mudslide cleared away his home in the group of Tappen, CBC revealed. Specialists on call raced to the scene however were compelled to pull back. Flooding has been accounted for in the neighboring US, too. A highly sensitive situation was reported and 1,900 homes have been overflowed crosswise over 126 towns and urban communities in the east of Canada, over the territory of Quebec. It has been affirmed by the neighborhood specialists that this security measure will stay set up for around 48 hours. (Gonzalez et al.2017).

Moreover, this flooding influenced the east of Montreal, as well as has its impressions on the west of Montreal. Therefore, a crisis has been announced in the town of Rigaud and a request of departure has been issued by the leader in the surge zones. Other than Quebec, the territory of Ontario has likewise been fundamentally influenced by flooding brought on by overwhelming precipitation. In southern Ontario, the Canadian Press news organization has affirmed that Lake Ontario's water level has achieved a degree not seen since 1993 (Luckman 2017).

Flood waters in Quebec and Manitoba may keep on causing natural mischief long after they retreat, with specialists cautioning of potential harm to water quality and untamed life. Researchers say a beating blend of human waste, fertilizer and pesticides posture biological dangers to downstream water bodies (Thiboult, Anctil and Ramos 2017).

The substance of flooding urban sewage frameworks and huge amounts of cultivating chemicals in provincial zones are being flushed into interfacing biological communities. A portion of the contaminants coursing through Quebec's Richelieu River and Manitoba's Assiniboine River can likewise advance the spread of gagging algal blossoms and gather on delicate fish living space. A University of Manitoba biologist said a side step used to ease the swollen Assiniboine has been diverting surge waters into Lake Manitoba for a little while. He said the stream could proceed for one more month (Elshorbagy et al. 2017).

Gordon Goldsborough said the poison mixed drink is stuffed with supplements, for example, phosphorus and nitrogen, essential offenders behind the expansion of blue green growth. A portion of the contaminants coursing through Quebec's Richelieu River and Manitoba's Assiniboine River can likewise advance the spread of stifling algal sprouts and amass on delicate fish natural surroundings (Trottier, Groeneveld and Lavoie 2017). A University of Manitoba environmentalist said a extra step used to mitigate the swollen Assiniboine has been diverting surge waters into Lake Manitoba for a little while. He said the stream could proceed for one more month. Gordon Goldsborough said the toxin mixed drink is pressed with supplements, for example, phosphorus and nitrogen, essential guilty parties behind the multiplication of blue green growth (Faghih et al. 2017).

The Geography of the Flood: Montreal and Other Affected Areas in Quebec Province

Answer 4.

Southern Quebec was hit by flood on 3 May 2017. After the excess amount of rainfall, 2426 houses were flooded, 2720 individuals were rehabilitated from their homes, and 146 regions were damaged. Montreal and Laval then announced a highly sensitive situation over the flooding. Transportation in Quebec was shut and a few streets were closed on 7 May, including the Galipeault Bridge, because of rising in the water levels. Starting at 10 May, the Canadian military had positioned 2,200 troops in Quebec, and many military rescue boats, helicopters, protected vehicles and a naval vessel, the HMCS Montreal (Shao et al. 2017).

Trudeau Airport recorded 84.4mm of rain between April 4 and 7. The total rainfall for the whole month of April is 67.7mm. The extreme rainfall, joined with the melting of snow from March storms, created both sewer reinforcement and flooding from river. Several Quebec homes have had cellars immersed with water and mud. Hardest hit to date have been the lower Laurentians, including Mirabel and Sainte-Thérèse. Various homes are also flooded in Two Mountains and parts of Laval, along Lake of Two Mountains. There has also a report that the Island of Montreal is also flooded. Presently, Lac St-Louis is running at close record levels. Throughout the end of the week, the Ottawa River was practically level with Avenue St-Charles in Vaudreuil/Dorion (Burn 2017).

Answer 5.

A low pressure is created at southern and focal Ontario on Sunday, 30^th April 2017, which is the reason of the rainfall. A few rounds of rain and thunder storms are normal but this depression caused a heavy rainfall which is unexpected. The total rainfall estimated through Monday, 1 May is in the range of 20 to 40 mm before it decreases and some area is supposed to have an estimated rainfall of 50-77mm of rainfall. The warning for the rainfall was issued for Baysville, Huntsville, Port Severn, Rosseau, Killbear Park, Port Carling, Blue Mountains. Flood in montreal is caused by flooding of the river happens when extreme rainfall and fast melting of snow makes the rise of the rivers. Coastal flooding also may happen due to tidal storms and flooding. Flashfloods occurs from heavy storm causing heavy rainfall within a short period of time (Boivin et al. 2017).

References

Elshorbagy, A., Bharath, R., Lakhanpal, A., Ceola, S., Montanari, A. and Lindenschmidt, K.E., 2017. Topography-and nightlight-based national flood risk assessment in Canada. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 21(4), pp.2219-2232.

Shao, W., Xian, S., Lin, N., Kunreuther, H., Jackson, N. and Goidel, K., 2017. Understanding the effects of past flood events and perceived and estimated flood risks on individuals' voluntary flood insurance purchase behavior. Water Research, 108, pp.391-400.

Boivin, M., Buffin-Bélanger, T. and Piégay, H., 2017. Interannual kinetics (2010–2013) of large wood in a river corridor exposed to a 50-year flood event and fluvial ice dynamics. Geomorphology, 279, pp.59-73.

Burn, C.R., 2017. Mackenzie Delta: Canada’s Principal Arctic Delta. In Landscapes and Landforms of Western Canada (pp. 321-334). Springer International Publishing.

Faghih, M., Mirzaei, M., Adamowski, J., Lee, J. and El?Shafie, A., 2017. Uncertainty Estimation in Flood Inundation Mapping: An Application of Non?parametric Bootstrapping. River Research and Applications, 33(4), pp.611-619.

Luckman, B.H., 2017. Glacier landscapes in the Canadian Rockies. In Landscapes and Landforms of Western Canada (pp. 241-255). Springer International Publishing.

Tan, X., Gan, T.Y. and Chen, Y.D., 2017. Moisture sources and pathways associated with the spatial variability of seasonal extreme precipitation over Canada. Climate Dynamics, pp.1-12.

Saint-Laurent, D., Gervais-Beaulac, V., Paradis, R., Arsenault-Boucher, L. and Demers, S., 2017. Distribution of Soil Organic Carbon in Riparian Forest Soils Affected by Frequent Floods (Southern Québec, Canada). Forests, 8(4), p.124.

Lachance-Cloutier, S., Turcotte, R. and Cyr, J.F., 2017. Combining streamflow observations and hydrologic simulations for the retrospective estimation of daily streamflow for ungauged rivers in southern Quebec (Canada). Journal of Hydrology.

Thiboult, A., Anctil, F. and Ramos, M.H., 2017. How does the quantification of uncertainties affects the quality and value of flood early warning systems?. Journal of Hydrology.

Boivin, M., Buffin-Bélanger, T. and Piégay, H., 2017. Interannual kinetics (2010–2013) of large wood in a river corridor exposed to a 50-year flood event and fluvial ice dynamics. Geomorphology, 279, pp.59-73.

McCave, I.N., 2017. Formation of sediment waves by turbidity currents and geostrophic flows: A discussion. Marine Geology.

Qian, H., Cao, Z., Liu, H. and Pender, G., 2017. New experimental dataset for partial dam-break floods over mobile beds. Journal of Hydraulic Research, pp.1-12.

González, E., Masip, A., Tabacchi, E. and Poulin, M., 2017. Strategies to restore floodplain vegetation after abandonment of human activities. Restoration Ecology, 25(1), pp.82-91.

González, E., Masip, A., Tabacchi, E. and Poulin, M., 2017. Strategies to restore floodplain vegetation after abandonment of human activities. Restoration Ecology, 25(1), pp.82-91.

Trottier, N., Groeneveld, E. and Lavoie, C., 2017. Giant hogweed at its northern distribution limit in North America: Experiments for a better understanding of its dispersal dynamics along rivers. River Research and Applications.