‘Flooded again!’ homeowner laments
Residents helpless as water filled basements renovated from last flood
Across Windsor and parts of Essex County basements in hundreds of homes sustained thousands of dollars in damage from Tuesday’s torrential rain showers.
James Fullerton, 75, who lives on Belleperche Place in the Riverside area, was furious to find half a foot of water in his finished basement — a repeat of what happened to his home during the massive rainfall that Windsor-Tecumseh endured in late September 2016.
“Flooded again!” Fullerton exclaimed. “Half the houses on the street are flooded again.”
“The city says ‘Oh, we have it all under control.’ But they haven’t got it under control.”
Fullerton said he “paid a fortune” to repair and renovate his basement after the last time it was flooded. Now he’ll be consulting a lawyer — and he knows he’s not alone. “I’m talking about people’s homes.”
Retirees Donna and Ray Piche, who live nearby at the intersection of St. Rose and Edward avenues, were in the midst of completing renovations to their basement which was also flooded in September 2016 and again this winter.
They had two sump pumps running as the rain came down Tuesday around 1:30 p.m. when Ray went out to the garage to get a third one, Donna said. “By the time he came downstairs it was gushing.”
The water didn’t stop rising until it reached the second step of the basement stairs. Their new drywall, carpeting, bathroom and fully furnished family room were ruined in minutes. The couple shut off their water heater and furnace, and called their insurance adjuster. There wasn’t much else they could do.
“What really, really bugs us is we have brand new sewers,” Donna said, of lines that were put in on St. Rose in 2014 and Edward in 2015. The house was built by Ray’s grandfather and the couple has lived there since 1994. Last year was the first time their basement flooded.
Lakeshore resident Mike Berthiaume had a similar situation at his home on Russell Woods Drive. When water began filling his basement around 2 a.m. Tuesday, he frantically started running pumps and vacuums — and kept at it for the rest of the day.
“It hasn’t stopped. Water’s still coming up. The township can’t tell me why,” Berthiaume said. “My problem is the sewer. I’ve got a backwater valve and everything, and it came right up through the drain in the floor.”
“Public works said they can’t help me. They said everybody’s swamped. That’s my story. It’s a terrible one, and I’m sure there’s a lot of people in the same boat.”
Orlando Nalli, who lives in the 2600 block of Mark Avenue in South Windsor, was grateful with the response of both Union Gas and Windsor Fire and Rescue Services after smelling a strong odour of gas around his home, where 18 inches of water flooded his basement.
After the source was determined not to be worrisome, firefighters helped Nalli remove valuables from his soggy basement, which includes a family room and laundry area.
“They were very helpful. They were great,” said Nalli, a father of four children ages 12, 10 and fouryear-old twins. You can’t stop the rain, that’s nature. I’m just very grateful everyone is OK.”