Flood protection expert offers homeowners tips to reduce flood damage

A flood-protection expert says there are relatively simple things home-owners can do to better protect their property.

Paul Kovacs is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction at Western University.

He calls the amount of rain that fell in the past week “extraordinary,” noting that it overwhelmed municipal water systems.

But Kovacs also applauds St. Catharines for following the institute’s advice with providing homeowners with information about installing sump pumps and backwater valves.

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“They’ve gone a step further — the second thing is that we’ve been encouraging communities to do: actually offer financial incentives,” said Kovacs. “St. Catharines said doing these things — installing a backwater valve, having a sump pump with a backup battery supply — that costs money and St. Catharines will pay up to $5,000, I believe is the St. Catharines program, and they cover up to 90 per cent of the cost of doing these appropriate improvements, protective improvements.

“So having a program in place are two of the steps we talk about. Our challenge, that’s evident in St. Catherines and in a lot of other communities, most people didn’t do it.”

Kovacs encourages homeowners to take advantage of their city’s sump pump program, especially as he warns that major rainfall and flooding, like we’re experiencing now, is becoming more common.

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