Dawn Harp and Lars Androsoff were fully confident flooding didn鈥檛 threaten their home near southern British Columbia鈥檚 Kettle River.

Then the couple awoke at 1:30 a.m. on May 11 to the sound of floodwaters flowing beneath their Grand Forks home鈥檚 floorboards.

鈥淚 never thought this would happen in a million years,鈥� said Androsoff, 42.

But climate change researchers say this month鈥檚 B.C. floods, and the record-setting New Brunswick floods before them, are a glimpse into the future for people who live near Canada鈥檚 many rivers.

Residents who thought their homes were safe must either move to higher ground or take flood-proofing steps, while governments have to accelerate the creation of flood risk maps and zoning rules, they say.

鈥淭he most recent flooding in New Brunswick and south-central British Columbia are reminders we can no longer 鈥榗heat the system鈥� on flood risk,鈥� Blair Feltmate, who leads a federally appointed panel studying climate adaptation, said in an email.

鈥淐heating has caught up to us.鈥�

Harp, who is being treated for lung cancer, and Androsoff, a certified meat cutter at a local facility, had hoped a nearby dike would protect them when they bought their house seven years ago, but it was overcome by the rushing waters that had surged through southern B.C.

The 45-year-old says if she鈥檇 have known the flood risk, she 鈥渨ouldn鈥檛 have bought the home.鈥�

Like most residents of the neighbourhood of North Ruckle, or the flooded areas of New Brunswick, they have no insurance for the loss of most of their possessions.

Feltmate says as the waters recede in B.C. and New Brunswick, it鈥檚 important public attention stays focused on better preparation for the next round of rising waters 鈥� so fewer citizens like Androsoff and Harp are caught off guard.

鈥淓very day we don鈥檛 adapt is a day we don鈥檛 have,鈥� says Feltmate, an environmental scientist and head of the Intact centre of climate change at the University of Waterloo, which completed a 2016 study that showed just six per cent of 2,300 Canadians living in high risk flood zones were aware of the potential devastation they faced.

Feltmate is among the advocates arguing there鈥檚 an urgent need for easily accessible, high-resolution flood risk maps that precisely point out potential damage to properties; zoning rules that strictly restrict developments in vulnerable areas; and help for residents to move or prepare.

Governments must move more swiftly on these and numerous other preventative measures, such as ensuring home inspectors are trained to recognize flood risk and warn homebuyers, he says.

For those caught in rising waters, the price is financially and emotionally devastating.

鈥淚鈥檇 rather go through a fire than a flood,鈥� said Androsoff. 鈥滻鈥檝e been through the 1998 Salmon Arm (forest) fire when we had it and it was nothing compared to this 鈥� With fire you can at least wet things down. Water is way worse. We couldn鈥檛 do anything.鈥�

Insurance Bureau of Canada figures bear the personal experiences out to the wider scale. From 1983 to 2008, annual flooding insurance claims ranged from $200 to $500 million annually, but have consistently been over $1 billion annually since 2009.

Feltmate says basic basement floods 鈥� either from rivers or isolated downpours such as occurred in Burlington, Ont., in August 2014 鈥� have become the single largest cost of climate change-related damage in Canada. His research institute has estimated the average basement cleanup costs $43,000.

These are the kind of expenses uninsured New Brunswick residents are also grappling with after the rise of the Saint John River to historic levels, touching as many as 12,000 homes and cottages and resulting in an early estimate of $80 million in damage.

Meanwhile, in B.C., thousands of residents are returning to homes this week marked with red or yellow signs indicating a health inspection is necessary before they鈥檙e reoccupied.

Sean Allen, a mechanic who lives in Maugerville, N.B. 鈥� a community downstream of Fredericton on the eastern shore of the Saint John River 鈥� already has estimates of over $100,000 for the river water damage to his home, which he鈥檇 believed was safe when he first moved in.

When he purchased his home 22 years ago, he said, he was told the river hadn鈥檛 been that high in the past.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a kilometre from the shore,鈥� he said. Now he鈥檚 considering moving if he can receive enough disaster relief from the province to pay out his mortgage.

Feltmate says provincial flood maps that have the latest climate change models factored in could help people avoid similar fates, provided governments move to encourage citizens to regard flood protection as a necessity of any home purchase.

Karine Martel, a spokeswoman for Public Safety Canada, says 鈥渋n many parts of Canada they (maps) are either unavailable or out-of-date due to land-use changes and projected changes in climate.鈥�

Ottawa is working on standards for the updated maps, and is providing funding to provinces and territories in part through a $2-billion national disaster mitigation program introduced in the last federal budget, she said.

Spokespersons for the B.C. and New Brunswick governments said work is underway to improve the resolution of maps, with New Brunswick saying the higher 鈥渕odernized and updated鈥� maps are expected by 2020.

However, the wider issue is whether provinces will prevent development in areas already known to be at risk, and whether it will become mandatory for real estate disclosure statements to reveal flooding danger, says Feltmate.

Brian Burrell, who worked as a hydrotechnical engineer in the New Brunswick government during a flood mapping program from 1981 to 1994, says a rough outline of the high water marks of past floods were made available in his province, but they didn鈥檛 prompt regulatory reforms once published.

He said successive governments failed to end development or to create financial disincentives for building on the flood-prone areas, though some cities did bring in some zoning restrictions.

鈥淭here was a lot of discussion about flood plain management that never got to a definitive government program,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing to have policy, it鈥檚 another to have a program.鈥�

In his travels across Canada, Feltmate says he consistently encounters resistance from homeowners and developers who aren鈥檛 eager to have fresh restrictions that devalue their properties, and politicians who are worried about the political fallout.

Daniel Henstra, a senior fellow at the centre for international governance innovation at the University of Waterloo, says the flooding in both provinces demonstrates that Canadian homebuyers currently don鈥檛 have access to 鈥渁n effective system to make people aware of their property鈥檚 flood risk.鈥�

The political scientist argues in a recent study that in addition to accurate, precise risk maps, there鈥檚 a need in Canada for 鈥渃larity on who should be responsible for disclosing flood risk and when.鈥� For example, in California, property sellers are required to tell potential buyers if the property is located in the 100-year flood zones.

If money is spent on mitigation and prevention, Canadians and governments will save billions of dollars in years to come, said Feltmate.

鈥淲hat we have found is that for every dollar spent by a homeowner to mitigate flood risk, they will on average save $8 to $12 over a decade from basement flooding that doesn鈥檛 occur if they act on these recommendations,鈥� he said.

But for thousands of Canadian homeowners like Androsoff and Harp, there鈥檚 uncertainty whether they鈥檒l get another chance to prepare, as they piece together their lives again.

They plan to apply for disaster relief from the province, and await word on whether their home can be repaired and kept safe.

鈥淲e have a travel trailer, a home on wheels. Other than that, it鈥檚 one day at a time,鈥� Harp said.

Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press

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