Event Analysis – Post Emergency review:
The Town would like to provide our residents with a context of the Emergency Management Groups observations over the December 1st – 2nd, 2020 Emergency.
- Analysis of the Town’s two electronic monitoring gauges and the water level rise recorded at each indicates the emergency of December 01 – 02, 2020 was a major Trout Creek event. Clearly obvious to all impacted. Our recordings indicated the Kennebecasis River system received water but saw little damage impact as a result of this rain event. The water was high, but capacity remained to receive the tributaries such as Trout Creek, and further upstream tributaries such as Parsons Brook and Wards Creek.
- Water levels along Trout Creek were near the April 2014 levels. Water levels in the Kennebecasis were far below the 2014 recorded readings.
- The upstream reaches of Parsons Brook and Wards Creek received little impact.
- Social Media speculation on the workings of the Gateway Mall Berm continue in our community. In keeping with our analysis of the recording of river levels, and our overall emergency analysis; this flood event was localized within Trout Creek system given the measurements recorded, and, the Town’s onsite observations of staff deployed atop of the berm structure during this emergency. The water levels in the Kennebecasis never reached the “toe of slope” (bottom) on the earthen berm. That said, the mechanical devices for backflow prevention never triggered, and the portable pump although mobilized was never used on either December 01 or December 02. Runoff from upstream areas along Main Street and the mall parking lots discharged into the Kennebecasis River without issue. A Far different flooding event than that experienced in April 2014 in the Gateway Mall area.
Flood Master Planning, Town of Sussex & Village of Sussex Corner:
- The Town would also reference our Flood Master Plan for the publics review and public consideration. The complete Flood Master Plan document can be found at the following link. https://sussex.ca/media/Sussex-Region-Flood-Risk-Mitigation-Plan-Final-Report.pdf
- A public presentation of our Flood Master Plan https://sussex.ca/media/2020-09-10-Sussex-Regional-Master-Flood-Plan-Public-Presentatio.pdf was reviewed and presented to the Public on September 10th, 2020.
- The Town of Sussex and the Village of Sussex Corner request the public’s input by completing an online survey at the following link: https://sussex.ca/public-presentation-of-flood-master-plan/. To date nine (9) people have provided their input. We are requesting additional comments, and greater public dialogue on our Master Plan.
Forward Planning and Frank Open Discussion necessary:
- The magnitude of the flooding issue faced by our communities is far greater than removing the top layer of gravel within six inches of the water surface that would likely be permitted even if a permit could be secured. This is not a viable long term solution, however much discussion is needed in developing a viable long term solution that will work when needed, and more importantly work every time.
- Events similar to that experienced on December 1st and 2nd have a 1% annual probability of occurring again, but, most residents say the magnitude is far to frequent and the time is now to have meaningful, frank discussions about our future and constructive dialogue of how we choose to live in our community safely without the constant threat of flooding and repeated property damage.
- The Town has started to conduct a post event debriefing to identify weaknesses in our emergency response of December 1st and 2nd, and to constructive critique our efforts with a view to make meaningful improvements in future emergency response. We had issues during this event, and, our Emergency Control Group will identify each issue faced in this emergency and these post event recommendations will be forwarded to Sussex Town Council of necessary improvements on December 14th, 2020.