Significant flooding that prompted declaration of emergency in Lakeshore Municipality has ended
A declaration of emergency that was declared in a portion of Lakeshore Municipality Friday, relating to flooding after heavy rains has now ended.
“Ending the declaration of emergency does not mean that the impacts to residents aren’t real and ongoing, only that we are shifting our efforts from emergency response to supporting recovery efforts. On behalf of Council, I would like to thank all staff that have worked tirelessly over the past few days to mitigate the impacts of this flooding” said Mayor Tom Bain."Heavy rains have impacted a number of residents and staff are moving quickly to respond to this significant weather event," says Lakeshore mayor Tom Bain in a release.
This declaration applied to the part of the Municipality that lies North of County Road 42 and West of Duck Creek.
Residents in a Belle River Neighbourhood were dealing with the cleanup Saturday morning.
“There was an inch of raw sewage all through the entire basement it was disgusting," says resident Evan Vanderheide.
“We stuck the pump in the toilet and running it out the window. it’s been keeping the floor dry enough but it’s coming out of the shower too.”
Several areas in Windsor-Essex received more than 100 mm of rainfall since Friday, prompting Bain to make the declaration.
“The situation was just that dire with so many people flooding."
Bain says the town received 175 flooding calls in the first half of Fridays storm.
"We had all available staff out and all our pumps out to make sure the pumping system was working, then adding extra pumps when possible to help pump things out."
The town is asking the community to avoid using water such as flushing toilets and doing laundry until the sewer system can catch up.
“In the town of Belle River where the sanitary sewers backed up and we’ve been trying to find out how is this water getting in there? And it kind of came to us last night, a lot of that water getting in there is through illegal hook ups...problem is there’s so much rain in the drains, (they're) just overflowing, they’re really old and they’re too small. Somethings broken, something has gone wrong here obviously," says Bain.
Vanderheide feels upgrades to the area sewers needs to be done.
"Everybody down in Lilydale and everyone on the lake roads, there’s a lot of people all over town will tell you the same thing the sewers need to be updated."
"We have plans to build new reservoirs for holding in large pumps where necessary," says Bain.
If you are experiencing flooding, residents are asked to call the town but Bain is asking residents to be patient.
“The volume of calls that we had and having all our staff out on the road and trying to help solve some of these problems that will get back to them, but it’s gonna to take sometime."
"Lakeshore staff will continue to be there to support those residents impacted by the flood," said Chief Administrative Officer Truper McBride.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING King Charles' cancer treatment progressing well, says Buckingham Palace
King Charles III’s doctors are 'sufficiently pleased' with his cancer treatment and he is expected to return to public-facing duties, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.
BREAKING Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
'Unacceptable': Trudeau reacts after AFN chief says headdress taken from plane cabin
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief said her headdress was taken from an airplane cabin this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the incident 'unacceptable' and a 'mistake' on the part of Air Canada.
DEVELOPING Bird flu outbreaks: WHO weighs in on public health risk
The current overall public health risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus is low, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but urged countries to stay alert for cases of animal-to-human transmission.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Regina police officer injured after being accidentally shot by fellow officer's gun
An investigation is underway after a Regina police officer was accidentally shot by a fellow officer’s gun during the search of a house early Friday morning.
From faulty kids' cribs to flammable kids' bathrobes, here are the recalls of the week
Health Canada issued recalls for various items this week, including kids’ bathrobes, cribs and henna cones.
Taylor Swift dons Montreal designer's dress in 'Fortnight' video
A pair of Montreal designers' work has now been viewed over 41 million times. Taylor Swift dons a Victorian throwback black gown in her latest music video, 'Fortnight', designed by UNTTLD due Simon Belanger and Jose Manuel Saint-Jacques.
Island near Mull of Kintyre for sale for US$3.1 million
An idyllic 453-acre private island is up for sale off the west coast of Scotland and it comes with sandy beaches, puffins galore, seven houses, a pub, a helipad and a flock of black-faced sheep.