Flood Forecasting and Warning Workshop

February 3, 2021

On January 20 and 21, TRCA’s Flood Risk Management staff hosted the biennial Flood Forecasting and Warning Seminar in conjunction with surrounding GTA conservation authorities. Replacing the former Floods Happen workshop with a virtual format spread over two days, the seminar serves to bring critical information to municipal emergency management counterparts.

Rhianydd Phillips, Co-ordinator, Flood Emergency Management, led the event logistics that (virtually) brought together an audience of 93 guests, the majority of whom were TRCA municipal partner staff. Rita Lucero, Manager of Flood Emergency Management, opened the seminar with a reminder of roles and responsibilities with respect to flooding and shared TRCA’s advancements in site-specific emergency planning. Nick Lorrain, Senior Manager, Flood Risk Management, moderated the timely session on ice jam flooding, which included a presentation from Craig Mitchell, Senior Manager, Flood Infrastructure & Hydrometrics on the 2019 Bolton Ice Jam Flood.

A valuable output from the virtual delivery of the seminar is the creation of a video library of resources and content that can be referenced moving forward. Post-event surveys revealed that attendees were highly satisfied with the content and format. The seamless, professional delivery and high-quality content on topics like winter flooding, new technology tools, and flood forecasting modernization provides value to our municipal partners, and TRCA’s leadership in organizing the workshop reinforces the regard for our organization as leaders in this realm.