Relocating, flood-proofing vulnerable homes would cost about $8 million

The New Brunswick government could expect an approximately $8 million tab for relocating or flood-proofing more than 70 homes in the Village of Perth-Andover, the site of flooding in March that prompted a state of emergency.

The cost estimate is contained in a 16-page report, Perth-Andover and Tobique First Nation Mitigation Study: Final Report, submitted by a committee of community, government and industry representatives to the government of New Brunswick Aug. 31. Moving or flood-proofing homes from the Tobique First Nation would amount to about $700,000.

“The risk to Perth-Andover and Tobique First Nation is relatively high with a flood event occurring about every five years over the past decade,” notes the report. “In recent years, New Brunswick has been experiencing weather conditions that contribute to the early break-up and movement of ice, which in turn results in ice jams and flooding.”

And the outlook appears no better, with the observed warming trend expected to continue. “There has been a significant increase in the last decade in the intensity of extreme rainfall events,” defined as events of more than 50 mm of rain in 24 hours.

Flooding prompted the village to declare a state of emergency in March. About a third of the village’s residents had to leave their homes, Tobique First Nation was evacuated and many homes and businesses were damaged.

Relocation/flood-proofing cost estimates are based on 72 residential candidates in the village and a few homes in Tobique First Nation. The estimated cost of relocating a house to a serviced lot within the municipality is $100,000.

“The village also believes that additional financial support is needed to assist the business sector with recovery and relocation,” the report adds.

The report outlines options related to adaptation, mitigation and relocation. “It was determined that New Brunswick, like predominately all other jurisdictions across North America, needs to enhance the monitoring and forecasting capacity to provide real-time flow and water level monitoring, and risk assessments of ice break-up, movement and ice jam formation.”