Another Flood Story

This is NOT a very enjoyable time in the year it seems.  I just saw a note of mine that said that we had some heavy rain in 2015 around this time. Last year around these days in August, of course, there was a huge flood and now this year, severe flood damage was done once again. 

The rain this time around, as we finally were told, was quite severe: 

"Few areas of the city were untouched by the storm. 

“The flooding was really city wide,” says Dilkens. “It wasn't localized to any given ward or any given street." (CTV Windsor,August 30, 2017) 

Oh sure, we have seen the comment made about this storm being a "1 in a 100 year" event but I hardly believe it when we have had such heavy rain over 3 years in the same timeframe. Are we now going to be facing more similar flood situations in future years around this period of time? 

I really wonder if any significant action has been taken since last year by our Governments at various levels to take steps to prevent this kind of flooding causing damage. I would like to know what was carried out if anything. Clearly, some significant action will have to be taken to prevent further damage over the next few years or else we will see more disasters. It would seem to me that Governments will have to act pretty quickly now or who knows what may happen in another horrific storm. 

I am not sure that I want to write a story about what has happened so far the way I might have done it in the past. Rather, there is an interesting number of matters that I thought I should talk about and give you my impression of what has gone on so far. 

By the way, I may as well get experience in writing these kind of stories. I may have to do it time and time again after reading this from our Mayor in a Tecumseh news release: 

"Tecumseh experienced another unprecedented rain event overnight on August 28, 2017. Initial estimates indicate that the Town received approximately 150 mm in six hours. In comparison, the storm event in September 2016 saw 175 mm over six hours and 195 mm over 12 hours. During the July 2010 flood event, 89 mm of rain fell in a 24 hour period. A 100 year storm event equates to 87 mm over six hours…

“Unfortunately these extreme weather events are a new reality and municipalities cannot install the types of systems required to handle this high volume of rain,” says Mayor Gary McNamara. “The Town is doing its best to improve infrastructure. This includes investigating impacts and potential improvements to the current system, planning for the future and implementing systems to store the rain water that falls at extreme rates. We also encourage our residents to take preventative action on their properties to protect themselves from flooding.” 

I must say that I was shocked by how many main streets were damaged this time around. I think it was even worse than the storm last year. Take a look at this comment: 

"Windsor police urged the public not to drive “unless absolutely necessary,” as many road surfaces had become submerged in several inches of water. Across the city, highly trafficked streets were rendered impassable. 

According to Supt. Brendan Dodd, at least a dozen major routes were affected as of 4:30 p.m., including the E.C. Row Expressway, Jefferson Boulevard, Riverside Drive East, Tecumseh Road West, Dominion Boulevard, most of College Avenue, and more." (Dalson Chen, Windsor Star,August 29, 2017)  

Who has the faintest idea about how many times more it may happen that would result in the terrible conditions we have seen last year and now this year once again? Just as importantly, does this mean that, under our systems now, we can do nothing further in the future to protect ourselves? If so, I would have thought that immediate action was required for fear of what would happen again if this took place next year: 

"We're drying out now but it certainly was not a good one," said Lakeshore Mayor Tom Bain. Bain said the municipal systems are simply not designed to handle the massive amount of rain that pummeled the region in such a short period. 

"Our systems were all based on the 1-in-100 year storm and now we have to go back and take a look," said Bain. "We've had two such storms within two years so we've got to go back now and see if we need to change that design system." (CBC News, August 30, 2017) 

In going through my files again, I noticed that my first email to my contact in our Condo management firm took place at about 2:55 AM in the morning when the disaster hit. In that email, I set out what had happened since I woke up a few hours earlier. I let her know about all the things I had done since 12:30 AM and all the people that I had called. As I said before, I had learned from the last flooding how quickly I had to act in order to get people to come and resolve any problems I might have had before they received tons of new requests for assistance. I was just not prepared to wait for weeks or months for help and fortunately, because of the quick action I took, I did not have to do so. 

One thing that I find astounding and cannot explain is how buildings close to each other have different things happen to them.  Apparently, a number of units in our complex had a bit of water damage in the units but a lot of them did not. The same thing happened where my daughter lived. She too had a small bit of water enter into her Condo unit but not enough to cause any major damage. Unfortunately, according to a comment that I saw someone make on Facebook, other units in the same complex had a huge flow of water going into their basements causing substantial damage. How can that be?

The same thing in streets next to each other. How can the homes in one street have so much water damage done to them while houses in another street nearby have none at all? I just don't get it. I also saw that the main street near me seemed to have a lot of water being gathered up in the roadway as the water came down, just like in the last storm.  But it all disappeared quickly for some reason when it seemed that the sewers on the street opened up to allow the water into them. I do not understand that either. 

I have to admit that I did a little bit of research last time around about putting in a backwater valve to protect the condo unit from water entering it but decided not to do so. After all, I never expected another major storm and did not want have to pay out so much money for nothing. What a mistake that was! I should have done what a number of our residents did after the last mess: 

"Since the September 2016 flood event, the town says that more than 500 residents have received funding to install a backwater valve and/or disconnect their foundation drains from the sanitary sewer system and install a sump pump. The subsidy program is still available and residents are encouraged to apply. The program pays up to $800 of the cost to install a backwater valve." (Kevin McQuaid Jr., Windsorite.ca, August 29th, 2017) 

There is no doubt that I am going to look seriously into doing something ASAP because I am concerned about more rainstorms coming to hit us in the next few years. I think our weather conditions have changed to the worst.  

What is going to happen now with respect to the $3 million to be spent on Christmas lights for Jackson Park? Is Windsor going to ask that the money be spent instead to help people with their flooding problems or is it going to argue that it should be spent for the big event that is going to happen at the end of the year? Mayor Dilkens and Councillor Marra take different positions: 

"Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens defended his decision to vote in favour of the expendiure saying he believed it to be a good legacy project. He said through good financial planning and prudent budgeting the city is in a position to be able to consider these type of projects.  

“Everything in politics is about timing,” Dilkens said. “We’ve been working on this for a couple of months and we just happened to vote on it before major flooding happened in Windsor. It’s easy political fodder for a lot of folks and they can throw it my way. I’m a big guy. But at the end of the day was it the right thing to do? Yes, I believe it was.” (Kelly Steele, Windsor Star, August 30, 2017) 

Here is what the Councillor said, which may help if he decides to run for Mayor in the next election if people do not agree with what the Mayor said: 

"Coun. Bill Marra voted against the expenditure and has signed the petition. Marra pointed out he’s not “opposing the concept, but the process.” He said normal practice for a expenditure as big as $3 million is for it to be tabled until budget deliberations which usually take place in November.  

“The whole process was flawed,” he said. “It should have be subjected to budget deliberations. We didn’t even have a return on our investment plan.” 

He said when the storm hit on Tuesday what it did was “underscored” that there are other priorities in our community that should be considered. 

“I’m not surprised at the outrage of the community,” he said. “This validates that it didn’t fall within the high priority of our community. The storm just brought more outrage.” 

I just wonder if Mayor Dilkens is going to run again anyway. Would this specific event hurt him badly if he does do so and perhaps cost him the election? 

Speaking of Mayor Dilkens, I found his reaction to what happened rather surprising. Take a look at these excerpts to see what I mean.   

At first, who could be worried about anything in Windsor given this quotation:

"Windsor fared far better than much of Essex County, with flooding reported at 59 homes. City Engineer Mark Winterton says anyone who had flooding in their home and has not reported it yet, should call the 311 Call Centre."  (Adelle Loiselle,Blackburn News, August 29, 2017) 

It seems that the Mayor did not take things seriously even though the number that he mentioned was just over 5 times higher.  Apparently, at first, he did not think it was an emergency situation and I don't know if he does even now. Here is what he said first: 

"The Mayor of Windsor is urging people to use caution as the city deals with street flooding he says is significantly worse than the deluge that swamped the city nearly a year ago…  

Dilkens said there have been 310 basements flooded in Windsor - just a fraction of the 3,000 basements that were flooded during the storm in September of 2016."  (Chris Ensing, CBC News,August 29, 2017) 

One just has to wonder how the Mayor could make such a statement when the number of flooded units seems to have grown rather large:   

"Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens is calling for help from the provincial government after the ‘largest single flood event’ in Windsor’s history. 

Dilkens says the numbers are up to 3,793 homes flooded after heavy rain hit the city Monday night and Tuesday." (CTV Windsor, August 31, 2017) 

Here are some different numbers that I saw they came from the Mayor as well: 

"The cry for help comes after a record-breaking rainfall doused Windsor-Essex Monday and Tuesday, flooding thousands of homes for the second time in less than a year. Windsor's 311 line received more than 4,074 reports of flooded basements by 4 p.m. Thursday, and that number is expected to rise. More than 500 basements were flooded in Lakeshore and about 105 basements were flooded in Tecumseh, while about 20 homes were hit in LaSalle.

"This is horrible," said Dilkens. "I'm not going to sugar-coat it. This is the worst flooding in the recorded history of Windsor." (CBC News,August 31, 2017) 

Strange though. I have not seen the City of Windsor declare an emergency the way it was done last year.  I just wonder if an emergency has been declared because I do not recall seeing this being done this time around. If not, to be direct about it, why should the Province get involved to help out City residents who may suffer horrific damages: 

"Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens is calling on Ontario's premier to create a provincially supported insurance program for residents who can no longer get flood insurance… 

When pressed for details on what he was hoping to see from the province, the mayor said he wants the government to step up and create a program for people unable to get coverage because their home has flooded multiple times." 

I must admit that I would have thought that the Mayor might be asking for some Provincial financial assistance now to help out citizens. 

As you will see, there are a number of interesting issues about which I have written. Clearly, there are all kinds of matters that need to be resolved. 

Just to remind you, dear reader, there was a crisis like this back in 2011.  I just happened to read a story about it the other day. There were 3 storms at that time that caused damage to many homes. It just happened again. What can we do to make sure finally that it never does take place again!