WhiteCAP_Plan_01SEPT..

Northern Climate ExChange WhiteCAP Draft Plan
5.2 Community Based Consequences: Tier II Risk Assessment Results
In the second stage of the vulnerability assessment only the sectors ranked as high and
medium were considered by the project team. Again, relative rankings of likelihood, level
of impact and adaptive capacity were assessed, but this time on a consequence by
consequence basis. Those sectors which were prioritized as high in the first stage tend
to have more high ranking impacts. However, in every sector, there are impacts ranging
from low to high.
5.2.1 Hazards
Hazards are characterized by climate influenced disturbances at the landscape scale
such as landslides, forest fires, floods, etc. Increasing winter temperatures, increased
variability in water availability and the more frequent occurrence of extreme weather
events all increase the hazard risk for the community of Whitehorse.
Table 5.2.1
Community Consequences of Hazards
Consequences Level of
H.1 Community vulnerability to forest fire increases due
to heavy fuel load, lighting, drought, wind, etc.
H.2 Increased risk of catastrophic fire
H.3 Egress from subdivisions becomes a problem during
emergency situations
H.4 Possibility of regional beetle infestation leading to
more dead stands and increased risk of forest fire
H.5 Community continues to not buy into FireSmart
program
H.6 Heavy increase in rural residential leads to an
accompanying increase in vulnerability
H.7 Increased risk of catastrophic flood and infrastructure
failure (e.g. bridge)
H.8 Variable and/or increased snow, ice and wind
compromises infrastructure
H.9 Concerns about freeze-thaw and road icing
H.10 Frequent fires outside City limits leads to health
issues and problems with air quality
H.11 Slope instability as a result of rain and warming (e.g.
escarpment)
H.12
Variable rain and growth lead to issues of leaching
and seepage
Impact
Likelihood
Adaptive
Capacity
Priority
H H L High
H M L High
H M L High
H L L High
M H M High
M H M High
H L M High
M M M Medium
L H H Medium
L L M Medium
M L M Low
M L H Low
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