Two extreme rainstorms in June and July created flash floods in several areas around Niagara-on-the-Lake, overwhelming sewers, drains, culverts, ditches, storm ponds and streams. They caused tremendous damage to homes and properties.
In last week’s first instalment of our Summer of the Flood series, we offered an overview of the situation and told the horrific stories of several residents. In this second part of the series, in their own words, we share the stories of more residents who fell victim to the rushing water and sewage.
In an accompanying story, we also hear from an expert who explains what exactly the terms 100-year and 500-year storm mean. Often used by public officials to explain the type of storms NOTL has endured this summer, some question whether they have any relevance in today’s world of rapidly changing weather patterns.
- Joyce Furlane: St. Davids
We were affected by the heavy rain of June 18 and our entire basement was completely flooded. We lost most of our furniture and other belongings.
With the repair and replacement of goods, the damage amounted to the $100,000 range. The drain at the front of our house completely overflowed, causing the sidewalk and bottom of our driveway to flood.
The sump pump could not keep up with the overflow of water from the town drain. In the aftermath we have replaced our sump pump, which, like our basement, was only two years old.
We also added a secondary pump with a water line connected to the town water in case of a power outage or for extra help if there is an overabundance of water.
There is a second pipe coming out with the original pipe to flow in a different direction. The town was also able to come out and clear the drain as well as the neighbour’s drain as they were flooded as well.
I think with the new subdivision, all the debris had gone into the drains and they hadn’t been cleared in three years.
Yes, there is a drainage issue here in St. Davids and I hope this is addressed because in my 60 years I have never encountered flooding like this in a new house.
I am happy that the drains have been addressed, however, this needs to be maintained on a regular basis to prevent this kind of damage from happening again.
UPDATE: Fortunately, the insurance company, Intact, is covering everything minus the extra sump pump work. They only reimburse $1,000 for that. I am still waiting for my cheque for the loss of all our items.
- Cecilla Bennett: Ricardo Street, Old Town
I live in an area built on the slopes of Fort George. Because of the location, rain water flows from the higher areas of the hill and town and goes down in some areas of our private road all the way toward the Niagara River and occasionally floods Ricardo Street.
The recent flooding did not block the residents on our side of Ricardo Street, but the Kingspoint condominium was affected, as the street was underwater all the way to the only B&B at the foot of Fort George. At one time Ricardo Street would have severe floods that did not recede for days.
We also have a problem with Japanese knotweed in some areas and I think we, as a community, can kill two birds with one stone.
This highly invasive weed, which I can see around Fort George and nearby areas, needs to be dug out.
If we dig it out we can plant rain gardens on the slopes, which my research shows will absorb water and filter the debris that can pollute our rivers.
It is a matter of finding people who have experience with rain gardens and can determine where they should be planted.
- Denise Curry: 698 Concession 6 Rd.
I have photos of the water on my property and the water up to the side of my home which went into my recreation room.
I have lived on this property since 1985 with no issues. The ditches not being cleaned out had a lot to do with the problems on my property.
I called the town several times and after the second rainfall I asked them to come right away so they could see the overflow from the ditch on my property. The ditches still have not been cleaned out.
- Fatima Cunha: St. Davids
Our house was one of those badly affected on June 18. It was not just water, there was sewage with the rain water.
I understand, the sewage pumps in St. Davids failed that day and we had a massive sewage backup.
I had about 10 inches of sewage in my basement when I got home from work. I’m still trying to deal with this problem. Sewage came out of the bathtub, toilet, shower, floor drains like a tsunami.
Many neighbours also had the same problem. All of us called the town many times and didn’t get a response from our messages. It’s been over six weeks and no answers. My whole basement was destroyed.
I had to replace my furnace, washer, dryer, freezer and fridge. All my furniture is gone, including a lot of irreplaceable sentimental items.
It appears St. Davids sewage pumps are working way above capacity because of all the new developments and they continue to build more subdivisions.
- Marie Giles: St. Davids
We were flooded out in
Apparently,
Is there any help
- Janice Barker: Old Town
My property is on Simcoe Street between Mary and William streets. I’ve owned it since 2001 and all was well until 2017 when we had heavy rain in April.
I was informed that water from William, Gate, and Mary streets runs onto my property and ends up in the middle of the backyard on the south side.
A backyard sump pump was installed at my expense in 2017 and all was well until 2024 when the pump failed. I’ve since installed a powerful pump, but was told it should be down four feet to avoid freezing.
In the meantime, I may get some bales of straw to keep the pump warm in the coming winter in case the job can’t be done until next year.
- Maryellen Holmes: St. Davids
My husband has lived here more than 40 years. Before the new homes were built, sewers were installed, new power grid to supply and support all these new homes, we had floods as the power would be out for extended periods of time, affecting our sump pump.
After that, we changed our set up and had no issues until this summer when we have had two floods in our basement.
The sump pump couldn’t keep up with all the rain falling and then the ground was so saturated it was a vicious cycle of pumping out and coming right back in our basement from a spot we still aren’t sure of.
We have to now dig up all around the back wall of our home to see if there is an issue with the tile bedding, crack in foundation or sump pump drain pipe issue.
Our sump pump runs fairly regularly compared to neighbours on both sides of our house as we are the low spot on Tanbark Road.
I don’t believe the town has done enough to support all of these new homes. I believe this will continue as the water has nowhere to go now.
Grinder pumps are also an issue. We should never have been forced to remove our fully working septic tanks for these stupid pumps.
- Nathan Sacevich: St. Davids
After the Apricot Glen storm pond failure in July 2023, the town responded with long-overdue routine maintenance in spring 2024, which was a massive and likely expensive undertaking.
I have taken video of the July 2024 post-clean out of the same storm pond. The pond has been in continuity with my backyard three times this summer.
Our infrastructure is inadequate to meet our community’s existing needs.
- Suzanne Jong: St. Davids
I submitted a work order in early spring requesting our back drainage ditch be cleared. The town did not respond, I have called numerous times and have gone in person. All requests are ignored.
The back ditch runs through many properties on Line 7 and our under-drainage from the farm also empties into it. The ditch is full of tall grass and they refuse to do anything with it.
This ditch drains into a creek on Line 7 which constantly overflows and the water floods our property along with many others.
The last heavy rain was within an inch of our basement windows.
- Yannick Wertsch: Line 5 Road
After the major rainfall in June the Harrison ditch on Concession 3 could not keep up with the volume of water and started pushing water toward our property.
The drains going under the road of Line 5 are partially clogged and wouldn’t split the water to both sides of the road. This caused the water to reach up to our house.
The only reason it didn’t go further is that Line 5 Road started flooding over toward our neighbour’s farm. The water took about a week to recede completely.
- Next: In Part 3, The Lake Report takes a look at NOTL’s stormwater and drainage infrastructure. Is it adequate? And we will delve into beliefs that over-development in NOTL has played a big role in helping to create the wet, wild and destructive summer of 2024.
