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More than a week after a record-breaking rainstorm flooded thousands of basements around Ottawa, some residents and at least one councillor say they’re distressed by the “too-slow” response from city officials.
Between 50 and 150 millimetres of rain fell in many parts of the city on July 1, according to a Saturday memo to council from Tammy Rose, the city’s general manager of infrastructure and water services.
In the Britannia area, rain gauges measured more than 167 millimetres of rain over the course of just five hours, making it a one-in-200-year weather event, Rose wrote.
As of Friday morning, the city had received more than 5,400 service requests through 311, Rose said in her memo, with roughly four in ten coming from College ward.
That’s Coun. Laine Johnson’s ward. In an email Thursday to her fellow councillors, she called the response from the city “unacceptable.”
“It’s too slow. It’s too long. We have an emergency services department and an emergency response program. But I’ve learned that the city was slow to make the decisions that would activate that response,” she wrote.
Johnson said she’s been out every day since the storm, advocating for residents as they try to get through the “catastrophe” that’s especially affected College, Bay and Knoxdale-Merivale wards.
More than 40 per cent of service requests following the July 1 storm have come from College Coun. Laine Johnson’s ward. She says the city’s response to the storm has been severely lacking. (Francis Ferland/CBC)
“The City of Ottawa senior leadership team took way too much time to [do] what they needed to do in an emergency response, and residents were left holding the bag,” Johnson told CBC Radio’s All In A Day on Friday.
Johnson said she feels councillors like herself are taking on much of the responsibility without seeing enough action from city staff.
While the solid waste team has stepped up, the city’s mobilization efforts overall have been “extremely disappointing,” Johnson said.
“I’ve visited residents that are just beside themselves, not knowing if they should refinish, if they’ll be able to sell,” she said. “For many residents, it’s too late.”
Johnson said she plans to submit an inquiry to council on Wednesday asking for more details about what happened.
Damaged belongings await disposal in the Qualicum-Graham Park neighbourhood on July 7. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)’50 years of memories’
Some residents living in the Qualicum-Graham Park area, one of the hardest-hit parts of the city, were solemn in the wake of the storm.
“It’s 50 years of memory. It’s all my kids’ stuff [that’s] gone. Like, their childhood stuff I saved is gone,” said Penny James, standing beside a pile of garbage nearly as tall as she is.
“It’s all covered in feces. We did what we could.”
Andre Bard estimates he lost between $40,000 and $50,000 worth of items due to flooding from the storm.
“It just came through the house, through the drains, the toilet, the bath, and it filled with three feet of raw sewage,” said Bard, who’s been struggling to clear out his home ever since.
“It happened so quickly that essentially almost everything that was within three feet of the floor was completely unsalvageable.”
On top of the losses, some residents also said they’re worried about pests flocking to the piles of trash sitting outside their homes.
“It’s as terrible as you think it would be. It’s really, really hard,” said Deborah Weis. “For me really, it has been so disappointing to see the response from the mayor and from the city.”
This map shows the rainfall levels that were measured across Ottawa during the Canada Day downpour. More than 150 millimetres fell in some places in just five hours, a one-in-200-years weather event, the city said. (City of Ottawa)’Countless hours’ handling 311 calls
In her memo, Rose wrote that the “intensity and volume of rainfall” caused sanitary and storm sewers in the most-affected areas to operate beyond their capacity.
The ground also swiftly became saturated with rain, leading to “a significant number of basement flooding incidents and substantial combined sewer overflow,” Rose said.
City crews quickly dealt with flooded roads and cleared debris and trees from infrastructure, she added.
“First response crews have spent countless hours responding to 311 calls from residents reporting property flooding,” Rose wrote. “City staff have responded to many maintenance calls and continue to assess the system to ensure [infrastructure] can function efficiently and drain flooded areas.”
The city will also undertake a “comprehensive review of this extreme weather event” to figure out ways to respond better in the future, Rose said.
In the meantime, community information hubs continue to be staffed across the city for people severely impacted by the storm.
The city is also planning several information sessions with representatives from agencies like the Insurance Bureau of Canada and the Canadian Red Cross.
The first of those gets underway Sunday at 1 p.m. at Ben Franklin Place.