Home Research Emergency management Natural Hazards of Canada Floods Significant floods of the 19th and 20th centuries

Significant floods of the 19th and 20th centuries

All damage figures are in year 2000 dollars

11999 Estimated damage: $12 million map
Maritime Provinces / September / Record rainfall caused by remnants of tropical storm Harvey and Hurricane Gert flooded Oxford, NS with 200 mm rain in 24 hours. Moncton, NB was forced to evacuate 30 seniors from a residence and 15 families and 10 metre whitecaps smashed the breakwater in Lord’s Cove, NF, and wharves in Placentia Bay and St Brides.

21999 Estimated damage: $103 million map
Melita, MB / April / The flooding of the Souris River washed out roads and damaged bridges in rural areas, and made 800,000 hectares of farmland unseedable.

31997 Estimated damage: $815 million map
Manitoba’s Red and Assiniboine River valleys / May / Thousands of volunteers, including residents, military personnel and volunteers worked together for over a month to battle spring floodwaters and evacuate 25,000 people from the dozens of affected communities.

41996 Estimated damage: $1.5 billion map
Saguenay River valley, QC / July / Ten people died and 15,825 people were evacuated when floodwaters washed out thousands of homes, businesses, roads and bridges. The flooding was caused by a sustained downpour of 290 mm of rain over 36 hours.

5 1995 Estimated damage: $156 million map
Southern Alberta / June / Heavy rain and melt water led to flooding of Oldman and Saskatchewan rivers. Roads, property, riverbanks, agricultural land and 20 bridges were damaged. 250 homes were flooded.

6 1993 Estimated damage: $406 million map
Winnipeg, MB / July to August / City of Winnipeg declared disaster area after prolonged heavy rainfall and 3 thunderstorms. Sewer backups, homes damaged, power lines down, agricultural land and infrastructure damaged. Wettest summer in 120 years.

7 1986 Estimated damage: $66.9 million map
Edmonton, AB and Prince Albert, SK / July / Flood was the highest since 1915.

8 1985 Compensation of $1.1 million map
Northwest Territories / May / Spring runoff and ice jams flooded the west channel area of Hay River.

9 1983 Estimated damage: $61.6 million map
Newfoundland / January / A rainstorm, snowmelt and a rapid ice break-up led to severe flooding in the Exploits and Gander River basins. Damage included the partial destruction of the dam and powerhouse at Bishop's Falls.

10 1974 Estimated damage: $23.4 million map
Saskatchewan / April / Runoff from a heavy snowpack flooded the Qu'Appelle River basin and drove the Moose Jaw River to a historical high. In Moose Jaw, 60 city blocks were under water; bridges and dams were damaged.

11 1974 Estimated damage: $359 million map
Quebec / May-June / Floods struck hundreds of towns, with the Ottawa River basin and Montréal region hardest hit. Caused by unusually wet spring and excessive snowmelt, total damages were $359 million. Over 1000 homes and 600 cottages were flooded and 10,000 people evacuated.

12 1973 Estimated damage: $127 million map
New Brunswick / April / A frontal storm in the northern and central parts of the province unleashed the largest flood since records have been kept. Damages to Fredericton area and farmland accounted for about 60 percent ($77.8 million) of total.

13 1956 Estimated damage: $213.8 million map
Nova Scotia / January / Snowmelt, rain and ice jams caused extensive province-wide damages including the destruction of more than 100 bridges. Tropical storms also have wreaked havoc, such as Hurricane Beth in August 1971 that inflicted $129.5 million in estimated damages.

14 1954 Estimated damage: $1.03 billion map
Ontario / October / Hurricane Hazel induced the worst flooding in the Toronto area in more than 200 years. The toll included 81 dead and more than 20 bridges destroyed.

15 1950 Estimated damage: $1.09 billion map
Manitoba / April-May / The 51-day Red River flood in and around Winnipeg was caused by snowmelt and heavy rain and caused major damage despite extensive dyking. One person died, and 107,000 were evacuated.

16 1948 Estimated damage: $427 million map
British Columbia / May / Fraser River rose to within one foot of the 1894 level and flooded more than 22,000 hectares.

17 1923 Estimated damage: $75 million map
New Brunswick / April-May / The flood was caused by snowmelt, heavy rain, ice and log jams and was significant in all parts of the province. Two lives were lost.

18 1894 Estimated damage: Unknown map
British Columbia / The greatest Fraser River flood in the past century occurred when the floodplain was sparsely populated and undeveloped. Had the same flood struck the lower Fraser in 2000, it could have caused damages of $7.5 billion.

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