Many Windsor-Essex streets and basements are flooded after the region was hammered by heavy downpours on Monday, and it’s far from over.
A severe thunderstorm warning has been reduced to a watch for Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent.
Environment Canada says conditions are favourable for “dangerous” thunderstorms that could bring strong winds, large hail and torrential rain.
Environment Canada meteorologist, David Phillips says a record breaking 73.6 millimetres of rain fell on Monday, all in the span of approximately six hours. It’s the wettest Aug. 11 and second rainiest August day on record.
It’s because of this that many residents are emptying out their basements on Tuesday with buckets. The hardest hit in the city were homes in South Windsor. Parker Construction has been inundated with calls from residents in Southwood Lakes, Northwood Lakes and along Longfellow Avenue.
The city is asking anyone experiencing flooding to contact 3-11 for assistance.
The same can be said for folks living in Amherstburg, LaSalle and several other Essex County communities. Some residents are unable to even leave their homes, with two to three feet of water blanketing roads.
Mother Nature is far from over. Environment Canada is forecasting an additional 30 millimetres of rain for Tuesday – a number that could increase. Phillips says if this weather system continues at a snail’s pace, the region could mirror the amount of rain it saw on Monday.
Already this year Phillips estimates 1,000 millimetres of rain and snow has fallen on Windsor and Essex County. He anticipates 2014 to be one of the wettest years on record.