RESIDENTS CLEANUP FOLLOWING STORM
Flood-related stories and photos
Windsor has spent roughly $25 million annually over the past 10 years to upgrade its sewer system.
Yet thousands of basements were again destroyed Tuesday in neighbourhoods across the city by torrential rain — while Mayor Drew Dilkens asked Wednesday for provincial disaster relief funding.
The two-day storm dumped up to 250 millimetres (eight inches) of rain on much of the city.
“The magnitude of the damage from this storm warrants us being included in the program,” said Dilkens, who spoke Wednesday to Bill Mauro, minister of municipal affairs, about Windsor’s plight. “We’ve never seen flooding like this. The streets were hit hard. We had water flowing in people’s front doors.”
A provincial assessment team will arrive Thursday or Friday. Dilkens hopes to learn no later than Monday if residents can apply for help through the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians program, as they did after the 2016 flood. Dilkens noted that some residents have no insurance or are underinsured because of past flooding.
“This program can really help people,” he said.
As of late Wednesday afternoon, more than 2,700 complaints of residential flooding were made to the City of Windsor.
“It was just too much rain — a volume situation,” said city engineer Mark Winterton.
“It cut across every sewer system and loads we have — new, old, highend or low-end.
“The systems are designed to a certain criteria and when that gets exceeded you end up with flooding. The reality is with any size (sewer) there is always going to be a bigger storm.”
The city has charted flooding complaints that show how the rain fell hardest in “almost a straight line” from the intersection of Huron Church Road and Cabana Road down to Riverdale and Lake St. Clair area.
Homeowners in South Windsor, South Walkerville and Riverside were those hit with the most significant rain and flooding damage, while the city’s west end, downtown core, Forest Glade or near the airport were almost completely unaffected, Winterton said.
Homeowners who wish to report basement flooding are asked to either call 311 or use the city’s website 311online.ca if they don’t want to wait on the phone as the information system is overwhelmed with calls.
Winterton is advising everyone with finished basements to tap into the city’s basement flooding protection subsidy program.
Homeowners can receive grants of up to $2,800 to help them install backwater valves, sump pumps or disconnect foundation drains from floor drains. Information on the program can be found on the city’s website.
“The city spends significant resources in addressing our stormwater problem,” he said.
Some of the city’s infrastructure — especially in the core — is more than 100 years old, but structurally remains in good condition, Winterton said.
“We are doing everything we can, but we can’t control Mother Nature. Cities all over North America and Europe suffer big storms and massive flooding,” he said.
“We have put a lot of money towards our system. Nobody wants to get rid of basement flooding more than me. I have to deal with the wrath of everyone.”
People with finished basements are simply at an “inherent risk” of trouble because they are below ground and water will go to where there is least resistance when the municipal sewer system is overloaded, he said.
“We are sympathetic to their plight,” Winterton said. “Many of our people (employed by the city) were also flooded. We understand people’s frustrations.”
The storm also swamped parts of Lakeshore, with 515 reports of flooded basements coming into the municipality by Wednesday afternoon.
“It was hard,” said Lakeshore Mayor Tom Bain, noting that the heaviest rainfall ran from Russell Woods to Puce. “The homes in the Russell Woods area are mostly in the $750,000 to $1 million range, so flooding costs can be high.”
Meanwhile in Tecumseh, there were 115 reports as of late Wednesday morning from homeowners of flooding in their residences — not anywhere near the 1,500 that were hit during last year’s storm, says Mayor Gary McNamara.
“It really varied in neighbourhoods where the volume (of rain) was anywhere from five inches to eight inches,” he said.
Little River, Edgewater and St. Clair Beach areas were among those hit hard. “There were pockets again,” McNamara said. “They are low-lying areas. Everything was working for us (storm systems), but it was just the sheer volume and how fast it came down. It overwhelms our system.”
The town has regular garbage pickup on Thursday and the mayor asked that carpets or drywall be cut up and bagged if possible to make it easier for pickup.
“We will do what we can to help people,” McNamara said. “I just wish Mother Nature was a little nicer to us.”
LaSalle Mayor Ken Antaya believes the town “dodged a bullet” by just missing the worst of the storm.
As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, the town had only received complaints from 20 homeowners about flooding — largely near Turkey Creek, which slightly overflowed, forcing the closure of several adjacent walking trails and causing woes for a handful of nearby homes.
“There may have been more flooded basements, but that’s all that were reported to us,” Antaya said. “Everything today is pretty normal. Our sports fields are even open again, so we feel pretty fortunate.”