Basement flooding, it’s almost as Hamilton as steel.
[](http://www.joeycoleman.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/MRAT.jpg)A sample MRAT map
A new tool launched by the City this week, and funded by the Insurance Bureau of Canada, will assist Hamilton and other cities to better target infrastructure funding to target areas most at risk of basement flooding as the climate changes and heavier rain events become more common.
It’s called MRAT, short for Municipal Risk Assessment Tool, and it cost millions of dollars to develop. Combining infrastructure data from municipalities, insurance claims data from the industry, and climate data from scientific sources, MRAT provides data detailing where basement flooding is most likely to occur, allowing for infrastructure improvements to occur before catastrophic flooding happens.
The City is already using the tool in planning capital priorities.
Combined with the City’s Protective Plumbing grants, that helps homeowners to install backflow prevention devices, the City is aggressively responding to basement flooding.