Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Jennifer Johnston’s home in Ottawa’s Crystal Beach neighbourhood was one of thousands in the city that flooded in the wake of powerful storms on Canada Day. (Submitted by Gillian Maloney)
Ottawa city council approved more support for Canada Day flooding victims Wednesday, while other officials acknowledged public frustration over the city’s response.
Council unanimously approved eight separate motions, four of them led by Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and others from councillors Sean Devine, Laine Johnson and Theresa Kavanagh.
Sutcliffe’s motions will increase financial support for victims, particularly in the form of compassionate grants and help buying sump pumps, waive some rebuilding fees such as demolition and building permits;, co-ordinate legal help for insurance claims, and endorse a partnership with the Canadian Red Cross.
Other motions trigger reviews of emergency planning and management, evacuation and accommodation, and stormwater management.
WATCH | Sutcliffe talks about the Red Cross on Tuesday:
Mayor says Red Cross will provide support for flood victims through partnership
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe signalled Tuesday the city is partnering with the Canadian Red Cross on a series of steps to help flood victims, including support from experts with insurance claims, access to engineers and renovation specialists, “and other social and human supports as residents continue to navigate this very difficult situation.”More than 6,000 basements flooded
According to Environment Canada, 118 millimetres of rain fell at the Ottawa International Airport on Canada Day, starting around 2 p.m.
The city said last week that preliminary readings showed higher amounts fell elsewhere, particularly west of the core. Britannia had 167 millimetres of rain over about five hours, for example.
That amount of rainfall is supposed to come just once every 200 years or so, according to the city.
“[I’m] staring down the basement stairs and watching items float. [I] look around the corner and see gushing dirty water from every drain … including from a toilet and from a shower,” said Kavanagh, recounting the moment she noticed her own Bay ward home flooding.
WATCH | Some of the scenes two days after the storm:
Thousands still recovering from record-breaking Canada Day storm
The CBC’s David Fraser checked in with people in and around Ottawa who are still cleaning up after Wednesday’s record-breaking storm.
As of Wednesday’s update, the storm and ensuing flooding had forced more than 100 people from their homes and led to more than 6,000 reports of flooded basements. Multiple politicians at Wednesday’s meeting said they knew about more flooded basements that haven’t been reported to the city yet.
The city has also removed more than 2,600 tonnes of flood-damaged furniture and other items from the hardest-hit areas.
Waste pickup crews are currently making their fifth pass of those neighbourhoods, said Ryan Perrault, the city’s general manager of emergency and protective services.
Acknowledging frustration
City manager Wendy Stephanson said Wednesday that she’s heard residents’ complaints that the city hasn’t moved quickly enough in its flood response.
“For days, it did feel like the only source of trusted information that was out there was the councillors,” said Kitchissippi Coun. and mayoral candidate Jeff Leiper. “I didn’t see the empathy coming from the city that would have reassured residents.”
Stephanson said it was difficult at first for staff to comprehend the full extent of the damage because most of it occurred inside private homes.
“The full extent of impacts could not be determined from rainfall data or initial field observations alone,” Perrault explained later.
Johnson, the councillor for College ward, filed an official inquiry to city staff about how the city planned for and responded to the Canada Day storm and flooding. Staff will respond in writing at a future meeting.
Leiper says councillors were ‘hung out to dry’ after Canada Day flooding
Coun. Jeff Leiper said the city’s response to Canada Day flooding was too slow, leaving individual councillors fielding requests for help from desperate residents whose homes had flooded.Western LRT affected
On Monday, the province said it will be activating its Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians (DRAO) program for Ottawa residents, and is working with the city identify specific areas affected by overflowing creeks where there may be uninsured damage that’s eligible under the program.
Perrault said the city is also tracking the cost of damage to municipal property to see if it can get its own financial support.
The Stage 2 light rail west extension project was affected by flooding and will take some time to inspect and repair, said transit general manager Rick Leary.
He singled out five stations including Moodie and Pinecrest, as well as the Kichi Zībī Mīkan tunnel near Westboro Beach.
Leary said it will also take some time to figure out how that might affect the LRT construction timeline.
The theatre and library at Ben Franklin Place in Nepean was inundated by nearly two metres of water at one point, according to facility services general manager Dan Chenier.
The Corkstown Pool parking lot sustained significant asphalt damage and will reopen as a gravel lot, he said.