One of the easiest ways of identifying a "First World" city is to check the local flood plan, and look at what as been done over the years to mitigate the threat. In Winnipeg, for example, millions upon millions have been spent to build the Floodway, and the armed forces have a well-used mobilization plan for flood-relief duties. Here in Ottawa, berms along the banks of the Rideau River have almost eliminated the flood threat in most neighbourhoods, and city crews dynamite the ice in late winter to prevent flooding from ice jams. City zoning bans new housing developments in known floodplains where mitigation measures have yet to be implemented, such as a much-debated area on the Carp River in our west end.

Meanwhile, in aboriginal communities along the shore of James Bay, annual flooding caused by ice jams just like what we don't get in Ottawa displaces hundreds of families for months at a time, and fouls the water supply for those few who can stay in their homes. And in India this week, floods have killed hundreds f people and displaced tens of thousands ...