Island residents brace for flooding
High lake level, heavy rains prompt flurry of sandbags and a ferry ready to evacuate
With an evacuation ferry standing by and city workers filling sandbags, Ward’s Island residents are largely shrugging off the worry of flooding from high water levels.
“We’ve seen this all before,” said 87-year-old Jimmy Jones. “I remember back in ’73, the last time we had high water like this, it was extremely bad.”
That year, the water in Jones’s back yard on the eastern end of Ward’s Island was about a metre deep, he said. “I don’t see it getting that bad this time.”
Even so, the city and local residents aren’t taking any chances. The city had a ferry standing by overnight on Thursday and into Friday in case flooding forced an evacuation.
On Thursday, park officials and the city began working on installing armour stone on the north shore of Ward’s Island to prevent floods in the nearby electrical infrastructure. The art school at Hanlon’s Point has been closed as a precaution.
City crews are also helping residents fill sandbags. Michael Page lives next to the shoreline. He’s been helping oversee the sandbag operation along the island’s northeast shore. He said the city parks department has been very helpful and is working on getting heavy equipment in place to help with shoring up the defences.
“People get pretty motivated when the water starts coming in,” he said. “Sandbagging in the rain isn’t fun, though,” he added, with a chuckle.
If the wind picks up, as is expected on Friday, it could push the lake over the shoreline and into yards.
The other challenge is that with the lake levels and water table much higher than usual, the water is also coming up through the saturated ground.
Environment Canada issued a rainfall warning Wednesday evening ahead of the 50 to 90 mm of rain that is expected beginning Thursday through to Saturday night.
The heavy rainfall, possible flooding and storm activity may make for dangerous living conditions for the 700 residents living on the Toronto islands, according to Matthew Cutler, a spokesperson for the city’s parks, forestry and recreation department. “If the storm and flooding make it unsafe, then we will make the decision to evacuate the residents,” he said.
Late Thursday evening the city issued an update on ferry accessibility:
Ferry service and access will be restricted to only residents, staff, emergency personnel, etc.
Regular ferry service to Centre Island and Hanlan’s Point Docks is cancelled.
Ferry service to Ward’s Island Dock will continue.