Good afternoon.
My name is Vincent Leys. I work as a senior coastal engineer with the Halifax-based consulting firm CBCL. I've spent more than 20 years studying coastal processes and designing coastal infrastructure. My main geographical area of practice is the east coast of Canada, with a focus on such federal infrastructure as ports, ferry terminals and national parks, and a special emphasis on small craft harbours managed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, of which there are several hundred.
Small craft harbours are the backbone of many coastal communities around the region. These harbours sit on the front lines of storm and climate change impacts. Many of them were hit particularly hard by hurricane Fiona. Since the end of September, I've been busy working on the implications of hurricane Fiona from the standpoint of coastal processes, storm impacts, infrastructure maintenance and repair, and engineering design.
The force of the storm was well documented as possibly the strongest tropical storm to hit Canada, as gauged by the historic low pressure. The intensity of the storm in terms of storm surge level and wave action is unprecedented for the hardest-hit areas, which explains the historic level of damage. That is notably the case along the entire north shore of Prince Edward Island, as well as areas of Cape Breton, the north shore of Nova Scotia, southwest Newfoundland and the Magdalen Islands.
Tide gauges along the north shore of Prince Edward Island measured the storm surge peak at two metres—two metres—above the normal astronomical high tide for the day. The entire north shore of P.E.I. and its infrastructure was under water. That included wharves, beaches, cottages and coastal roads. The deck of the fishing wharf at Red Head, P.E.I., had been at least two and a half feet under water before the storm knocked the tide gauge instrument out of service. The entire wharf was destroyed. This is one example of many.
The extreme storm surge allowed waves to hit communities inland where they would otherwise be protected inside coastal bays. Along sections of southwest Newfoundland, some communities were in the direct axis of huge Atlantic waves, causing unprecedented impacts to people and property.
For engineering purposes, the unprecedented storm surge has required us to revisit design parameters that were based on historical observations. For areas along the north shore of Prince Edward Island, we had to significantly increase the recommended design elevations for coastal infrastructure to account for the storm now being part of the dataset. This is in addition to the projected increase in mean sea level from climate change, which will worsen the impacts of such storms on coastal communities.
Now, quantifying the impacts of climate change on the actual frequency and intensity of hurricanes themselves is an area of active scientific research. Climate change projections indicate an increase in air and water temperature, including later in the season. These conditions will increasingly favour the development of large Atlantic hurricanes as well as their sustained intensity over Atlantic Canada. In addition, sea level rise will allow storm surges and waves to impact infrastructure further inland. Therefore, while the quantification of rising storm frequency and intensity remains challenging, climate resiliency is increasingly important for coastal infrastructure.
In recent years, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has been conducting structural condition assessments on its small craft harbour infrastructure for the purposes of asset management. These assessments are meant to produce rankings of infrastructure condition, from poor to good condition, that greatly help to prioritize immediate and long-term spending.
DFO personnel assessing storm damage have communicated to me that the hardest-hit harbours were those that scored lowest on the asset condition studies. In other words, older and deteriorated infrastructure suffered the most damage, which is not a surprising result. Therefore, hurricane Fiona reinforces the necessity for asset condition assessment and continuous monitoring, followed by timely maintenance and replacement of infrastructure at the end of its life cycle. These elements are a critical part of keeping climate-resilient infrastructure for the benefit of the local communities.
Thank you.