Experiences: Vulnerability of Infrastructure to Climate Change, London Ontario

Environment   Apr 20, 2016 by Tyler Lirette

London Health Science Center is the main teaching hospital in London and one of the largest acute care teaching hospitals in Canada, however the parking lots at the univerisity hospital  experiences inundation to have an impact regardless of direct building inundation. The access to some of these hospitals may be restricted due to road and bridge closures which will cause an increase in admittance to other hospitals that might not be able to handle that much traffic at their hospital, especially if they are not properly equipped with the the proper equipment. Also the road and bridge closures could have an affect on staff at these hospitals which will further strain the system. Existing municipal Infrastructure was designed and constructed based on standard historical rainfall events. Infrastructure that was designed for these historic storms may not be able to handle the storms that are now occurring. Modelling suggests that London should expect to experience more frequent and more severe precipitation events. Suggesting that London adapts its policies and procedures related to Infrastructure to consider more frequent rainfall events.