Severe Flood In Centennial Park, Grimsby Ontario

Footage of the huge flood in Grimsby, Ontario, August 5th, 2008. This severe storm flooded half of Centennial Park(Nelles Park), and some parts reached depths of 6 feet.

This is the same Van Buuren Municiple Drain that we have been flooding from upstream.

Stoney Creek homes flooded out again

Glanbrook councillor Brenda Johnson was so angered by what she saw walking around her ward after the record rainfall Jan 13, which produced flooding across Mount Hope and Winona, that she questioned the city’s new residential development strategy.


“I was so frustrated yesterday,” said Johnson, during a Jan. 14 government issues committee meeting. “With wet feet, I was touring the area and I was questioning the development. I’m not here to deter development, but I want to make sure it doesn’t contribute to it.”


She said there were 15 areas in Binbrook, and Mount Hope where new residential homes are being constructed up against established homes, are now experiencing flooding issues. Some of those homeowners suffered thorough severe flooding problems in July during a concentrated rain fall that resulted in 160 people complaining to the city.


She saw some of the same homeowners have more flooding issues. In addition, there were homeowners along McNeilly Road who had to deal with problem flooding.


“There are brand new homes that have never been flooded before,” she said. “We have got to look at this.”


While city officials trumpeted Hamilton’s record-breaking building permit results of $1.5 billion for 2012, passing the 2010 record of $1.06 billion, Stoney Creek councillors were focused on the new developments in their areas as partly responsible for the flooding issues.


Stoney Creek councillor Brad Clark said Green Acre Park flooded out the surrounding area, the first time that has happened. He said along Upper Stoney Creek 5,000 homes are being built, putting even more pressure on where the water will be going in the surrounding area and in lower Stoney Creek.


“I have seen brand new developments that shouldn’t have flooding,” said Clark.


Since September,Clark said there have been flooding problems along such roads as Fox meadow Dr., Highland Road, Highgate, Candlewood Dr., Hillcroft Dr., Highbury, Byron, Leckie Av.,Springarden Cres., and Fairhaven Dr.


“We are seeing new flooding,” he said.


Ward 10 councillor Maria Pearson said after the Sunday rainfall there was flooding in existing neighbourhoods in her area, especially areas that have recently see new homes built.


“There has been no rhyme or reason to this flooding,” she said.


Johnson asked city staff to inform her what she should tell her homeowners who have been flooded out of their homes.


“I received an email from a person who been living in his house for eight months, and this is the second time they have had flooding,” said Johnson.


Tony Sergi, senior director, growth management, said the city’s development standards should be “helpful” to prevent flooding. But if residents experience multiply flooding incidents, “we should look at it,” he acknowledged.


Clark and Johnson introduce a motion at the Jan. 15 planning committee meeting to have staff peer review the designs of three storm water ponds in the hardest hit areas.


“We want to make sure things are what they say they are,” said Johnson.


Hamilton received about 44 mms of rain Jan. 13, a new record, breaking the one set in 11.4 mm in 1979, stated Enviornment Canada. The rain fell from Saturday and Sunday, and it combined with a record high temperatures. Again, Hamilton’s 13.3 Celsius broke old record of 12.1 degrees in 1995. The heavy rains, plus the high temperatures contributed to flooding across the Mountain including at Mohawk Road and Upper Ottawa Road, where the catch basins were blocked, and in the Rosedale neighbourhood.


In July, the city received about 160 residents complaining about flooding issues after 66 mm or rain fell in a severe rain storm that hit only specific areas around the Hamilton, and Grimsby areas.


Councillors late last year re-funded the city’s protecting plumbing program which provides homeowners about $2,000 to install sewage backflow valves or sump pumps to prevent flooding issue.

Source: http://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/5426208-stoney-creek-homes-flooded-out-again/

STORM KO'S HYDRO, CAUSES FLOODING IN GRIMSBY

Another summer storm lashed Grimsby with hail, high winds and heavy rain on Tuesday.

The storm hit Grimsby and parts of Beamsville at about 6:05 p. m. on Aug. 5, reported Niagara Regional Police, knocking out hydro and causing flooding and downing trees throughout the area.

Police responded to several reports of trees blown over, branches falling and road flooding causing traffic hazards, as well as a dozen alarms.

Grimsby Power was kept busy restoring hydro service to areas affected.

There was a small electrical fire reported on Ridge Road, two trees were knocked over at the Grimsby Library, and there was some flooding at Beamsville Secondary School.

Niagara Regional Police had flooding of their own at the Grimsby District office, 25 Bartlett Ave. The power was out for a short time and so were the phones at the station. Heavy rains poured in through the lower garage flooding areas of the basement from three to five inches deep with muddy water.

Damage was limited to several boxes of paper supplies, and the Regional Works attended to assist with the clean up of the mud. Operations of the Grimsby office are not affected by this minor flooding.

Source: http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2008/08/07/storm-kos-hydro-causes-flooding-in-grimsby

Niagara region recovering from flooding

It was an overnight deluge in the western end of Niagara that flooded roads and buildings and washed out a section of the main CN rail line west of St. Catharines. Rail service along that line has been shut down indefinitely — affecting not only freight trains but also Amtrak and GO train passenger service from Toronto to Niagara Falls.

The damage is bad. Torrents of water washed out a section of the CN Rail line foundation west of Seventh Street in St. Catharines. A freight train is on the other side. It’s blocked. The line is shut down. CN has no timeline on where it will be repaired.

Freight trains are being re-routed. Amtrak train service is disrupted.

When Steve and Renee opened their basement door this morning, everything down there was floating in water.

Renee Coulter, flooded basement: “We could barely see our top stairs in the basement. It was water. Water everywhere.”

Henk Sikking heard the storm and the torrential downpour: “I had no idea how much water until 5:30 this morning when my wife woke up and said the neighbour’s are flooded.”

Henk walked into his greenhouse at Pioneer Flower Farms this morning: “In some places, we had over two feet of water in our greenhouse.”

He took these pictures of plants floating out the front door.

The thunderstorm was concentrated in an area between St.Catharines and Vineland. About 110 millimetres of rain fell overnight. That’s about five inches in a matter of hours.”

There were pumps going all over the place. Growers we talked to say they’ve never seen this much water in the orchards and fields.

Dave Wall is a tender fruit grower: “The land was a little dry. And to have the land soak up all that water and then have all the ponding and washouts. It must have really been bad.”

Roads were crumbling. This driveway was destroyed. Fourth Avenue in St. Catharines looked like a small lake. This section was closed all day.

Steve Brooker had a flooded basement: “It was one of those days where you don’t know what mother nature’s going to bring you. Yesterday was a nice sunny day. The next thing you know, you’re under water.”

There was no Amtrak service through Niagara today. Amtrak was bussing passengers between Aldershot to Buffalo and Buffalo to Toronto and they’ll continue to do that until the rail line is repaired. We just don’t know when that will be.

Source: http://www.chch.com/niagara-region-recovering-flooding/ 

Worries over new flood plain maps

A former West Lincoln alderman is calling for an outside review of a proposal by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority to adjust flood plain maps for the Welland River.

Norm Johnson joins several residents affected by the changes in calling for a public process and secondary review of the new flood plain maps, which the NPCA suspended implementation of at its Jan. 18 meeting. Johnson, who spoke before West Lincoln council at its Feb. 26 meeting, said he has two main issues with the proposal. The first is that the report is based on a number of questionable assumptions. His second concern is the “autocratic” approach the NPCA took with the project.

“This proposal, in my view, is very alarming,” said Johnson. “And the process followed by the NPCA is disturbing.”

The new levels were approved in March 2011 and the NPCA allowed a one-year transitional period during which households in the expanded boundary would be able to build. Residents, including Johnson, fear the changes will impact their property values and insurance rates and will make it more difficult to get building permits.

The water level at Becket’s Bridge, which spans the Welland River on Regional Road 24, is about 172 metres above sea level, Johnson said. During normal flood times, the water will rise to about 174 metres. Following Hurricane Hazel, which could be considered the storm of the century Johnson said, the river reached a high of 174.65 metres.

At present, the 100-year flood mark, a line which represents the maximum extent of flooding anticipated as a result of the storm of the century — which has a one-per-cent chance of occurring each year — is 175.03 metres. The 100-year line also represents the point at which development is not allowed. The new level jumps up a full metre from the current level and up to 1.39 metres in parts of Wellandport. In Wainfleet, 268 households, of about 2,800 in the township, will be affected by the raised levels, Johnson told members of council. Johnson suspects more homes in West Lincoln will be affected as the township houses a larger portion of the drainage system.

“In over 57 years, we haven’t exceeded the Hurricane Hazel flood levels, let alone the 100-year flood lines,” Johnson said. “Remember, the 100-year line does not guarantee freedom from flooding. It is a line representing a one-per-cent chance of flooding in any given year. Given the restrictions on residents along the river and the potential implications for the community as a whole, this proposal needs public input and review.”

Ald. John Glazier asked how many hectares the new levels take out of production. Johnson said the changes do not take land out of production per say, but restrict what landowners are able to do with their properties.

Ald. Joanne Chechalk questioned what role the township can play in the process, suggesting that staff get in contact with the NPCA and come back with a report.

“I would really like to hear more about this,” she said. “And how we got here.”

While Ald. Sue-Ellen Merritt cannot argue with the NPCA’s defence that “determining flood lines is an engineering exercise” and that “holding public meetings would not change the scientific outcome of the modelling,” she did question why affected land owners were not notified and what the consultants used as a basis for the report. Mayor Douglas Joyner, who sits on the NPCA board, said the answer to Merritt’s first question was simple.

“The NPCA does not have to inform people who live around the Welland River and tributaries,” he said, explaining that it is the NPCA’s mandate to protect the public from flooding.

Merritt, who said she was “disappointed in the NPCA and the way it operates, added the NPCA needs to change its policies to communicate more with affected residents.

On Jan. 18, the NPCA voted to downgrade the new levels to tentative status after meeting with residents to discuss their concerns. “Staff have met with the prime engineering consultant and asked that they conduct alternate simplified analyses on certain areas of the system,” said Tony D’Amario, CAO. “This additional work should validate the existing and complex dynamic model that has been developed. We believe that given the extent of the variances from the old to new levels, and the concerns expressed by residents, that this additional check is warranted before moving forward with implementation.”

In the interim, individuals wishing to construct in the now tentative floodplain expansion area are being advised of the pending levels and that they should consider undertaking floodproofing measures in accordance with the appended draft policy.

The NPCA has also established a working committee comprised of board members and staff to develop a process for implementing new regulatory levels for the entire Welland River. The NPCA does not expect any new information until the end of June.

Source: http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/3262712-worries-over-new-flood-plain-maps/