The Cowichan Valley Regional District is taking advantage of crowd-sourcing to help identify future extreme weather-related problem areas in the valley.
The CVRD is introducing a story-mapping tool that lets people upload their photographs and stories about the recent flooding and how they were affected.
Once the photographs are uploaded they are displayed on a map that shows how the storm affected the region.
The Cowichan Valley Regional District wants to become more resilient to flooding, landslides, wildfires and other natural hazards.
Beginning on January 31st, intense rain fell on the Cowichan region. Combined with snow on the ground and saturated soil, the storm caused considerable flooding in the valley, damaging homes and forcing the evacuation of some residents, as well as closing many roads.
The changing climate is predicted to cause more extreme weather events and increase the dangers of wildfires and other natural disasters.
Updating flood maps for the Cowichan, Koksilah, Shawnigan and Riverbottom Road areas is a part of these ongoing projects.
