Part of south Niagara flooded Saturday
Roads covered and yards flooded in Wainfleet, Port Colborne, Welland
Someone has to be held accountable for flooding in Dain City, says Wes Murray.
On Saturday, for the second time in three years, Murray’s basement filled with grey water during a rain event that saw between 55 and 105 millimetres fall across south Niagara.
Drainage ditches overflowed in Wainfleet, Port Colborne and Welland, flooding streets, yards, farmers fields and driveways. Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority issued a flood warning.
“It’s way worse than three years ago,” Murray said of his basement.
He said water came into his home despite a backflow preventer installed on his line. The devices are to keep sewage from reversing into a home.
“It’s not100 per cent effective.” During Saturday’s rainstorm, Murray took video in Dain City.
“There was no water movement. The ditches should have been flowing like white water,” he said.
“They talk about once-in-alifetime storms, well now it’s happened twice in a lifetime.”
Murray said he’s probably lost his home insurance now through something he has no control over.
“We need to get back to accountability. I’m tired of hearing about old infrastructure and the city saying it can’t do anything about it,” he said.
Beatrice Street resident John Minarcik said his basement filled for the second time in two years despite installing a sump pump and backflow preventer this past winter.
“We have done our part as homeowners,” Minarcik said, adding he was contacting city officials about Saturday’s flooding and that a plumber he hired can provide proof his lines are clear to the city hookup on his street.
He’s concerned adding 70 new homes in a nearby subdivision will stress an already overwhelmed sewer system.
In July 2020, he said, Niagara Region and the city told him a storm that left 15 centimetres of grey water in his basement was a once-in-a-100-year event.
Saturday’s storm left just under four centimetres of water in Minarcik’s basement as the backflow preventer managed to slow down the amount coming in.
Ward 6 Coun. Bonnie Fokkens said residents told her they want the city to take responsibility as it has authorized studies in Dain City and other areas where it acknowledges there are flooding issues, and reports have been completed or expected.
Those reports, she said, outline specific remediation actions to prevent inflow and infiltration into the infrastructure.
“Residents pay home insurance and, in most cases, they have already claimed home insurance on prior flooding. Increased insurance costs and fear of being dropped from the insurance company are reasonable concerns,” she said.
The councillor said people in Dain City are concerned about the addition of homes — up to 2,000 through Empire Homes’ two subdivisions north of Forks Road and east of Canal Bank Street — in the area and the ability of the Talbot Avenue sewage pumping station being able to handle increased flow.
Saturday, the region had transport trucks pumping sewage from the area’s pumping station to try to keep up with the influx of stormwater.
“It has not stopped the flooding but probably reduced the full impact of the flooding if they did not haul off the extra water,” said Fokkens of the tanker trucks.
What she saw while out in the community was basement flooding more than ankle-deep.
“People were pumping the water out, but it had nowhere to go. The ditches were not flowing,” she said.
Fokkens received 18 phone calls and eight emails from residents Saturday about the flooding. She knew of six streets in Dain City that were flooded and was contacted about Beatrice Street, Southworth Street, Chantal Court and Dain Avenue, as well.
Ward 6 Coun. Jim Larouche received as many as 10 phone calls Saturday and visited eight homes to see the flooding.
“It was just brutal … heartwrenching for the residents of Ward 6,” he said.
Fokkens said the flood waters in some areas of Dain City were 30 to 45 centimetres deep and going over roads.
“People were kayaking in the ditches and front yards,” she said.
Fokkens said city council needs to impress on staff that steps in a recent Dain City inflow and infiltration report need to be stepped up.
“We need to ask council for emergency funding,” Larouche said. “We know where the problem areas are. We don’t need more studies.”
The councillor is working on a motion for the Aug. 10 city council meeting. “We need to solve the problem and get the work done,” he said. “I don’t know how much more the residents of Dain City can take,” he said.