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Aroha DeForest has lived in her Nepean home since the 1990s, and first bought sandbags after her property flooded in 2023.
Ever since the record-breaking rainstorm on Canada Day, she said they’re now a permanent fixture in her laneway.
“I think like a lot of the west end of Ottawa, it’s complete PTSD when you go to The Weather Network and see that there’s a potential for tornado or torrential rain,” she said.
On Monday, another 23.5 millimetres of rain drenched parts of the city, flooding some homes for the second time in a little over a month and, according to DeForest, putting “everyone on edge.”
“We were stressed,” she said. “We had our eye on things, but at this point it’s like you don’t want to leave your house when this might happen.”
DeForest said she and her neighbours have even been avoiding leaving their homes or vacationing at the same time, so someone’s always on watch.
“When you see rain in the forecast it’s scary because you don’t know if it’s coming in your house or your neighbour’s house,” she said.
Nepean resident Aroha DeForest says ever since a major rainstorm on Canada Day flooded thousands of basements in Ottawa, she and her neighbours have been on edge. (Christian Lachance/CBC)Asking ‘tough questions’
City staff say College, Bay and Knoxdale-Merivale wards were the most heavily impacted by the July 1 flooding that damaged thousands of basements and yards across the city.
After meeting with residents in his ward, Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Sean Devine echoed residents’ calls for more support.
“It’s shocking but important for people to know that this is still continuing,” he said. “There are many, many households that have not nearly come to the end of this.”
The city says it’s investigating its response to the Canada Day storm and how it can improve for future extreme weather events.
“We’re going to have to start asking some tough questions about how much are we willing to invest and what are we willing to sacrifice,” Devine said. “But this kind of fix is going to take time. I only hope that the speed of government can accelerate, because the speed of Mother Nature is pretty darn fast.”
Another Nepean resident, Wesley Bova, said that while Monday’s storm was not as damaging as the one that deluged his family’s home on Canada Day, people are still worried.
“If there was a second round like we had on Canada Day … I have no doubt that we would have experienced the same thing we did on Canada Day, and that’s scary,” he said.
Bova said that after a month of cleaning up from the last big flood, his family feels a “sense of dread” whenever the sky turns dark.
“We’re worried that it’s going to happen again,” he said. “There’s been kind of a feeling if we need to get everything off the floor again.”