St. Catharines, Ont., declares state of emergency after back-to-back floods

The City of St. Catharines, Ont., has declared a state of emergency after two extreme rainstorms in less than a week triggered widespread flooding, overwhelmed municipal infrastructure and caused significant damage to homes, businesses and public property.

Mayor Mat Siscoe announced the declaration Monday, saying the measure is intended to strengthen the city’s response and recovery efforts while supporting requests for assistance from provincial and federal partners.

“Many residents are reliving the devastating experience of flooding for the second time in less than a week, and Sunday’s storm extended those impacts to even more neighbourhoods across St. Catharines,” Siscoe said in a statement.

“This declaration underscores the severity of what our community has experienced and the need for continued support from our partners at all levels of government as we work together through recovery.”

According to a news release from the city, more than 140 millimetres of rain fell across parts of St. Catharines during storms on July 27 and 28, and again on Aug. 2. 

Officials said the rainfall far exceeded forecasts, overwhelming roads, stormwater and sewer systems and causing extensive flooding, shoreline erosion and damage to municipal facilities.

Emergency operations centre activated

The city’s emergency operations centre has remained activated since last Tuesday to co-ordinate emergency response, prioritize resources and oversee recovery efforts.

City officials described the emergency declaration as a proactive measure that will allow St. Catharines to maintain enhanced coordination, access emergency resources more quickly if needed and respond rapidly should additional severe weather occur.

Although weather conditions have begun to stabilize, officials warned the ground remains saturated after nearly a week of heavy rainfall, leaving the city vulnerable if another major storm develops.

Siscoe said the repeated flooding has taken a significant physical, emotional and financial toll on residents.

Following Sunday’s storm, city crews continued responding to urgent service calls, assessing damaged infrastructure and addressing priority health and safety concerns, the release said.

Officials said the combination of intense rainfall and already saturated ground placed extraordinary pressure on drainage systems across the city, contributing to widespread overland flooding that entered homes and damaged private property.

Residents are being encouraged to monitor the city’s website and social media channels for updates, recovery information and available supports. 

The city said it will continue working with Niagara Region, the province and other agencies to co-ordinate recovery efforts and secure additional assistance for affected residents and businesses.

Systems overwhelmed in Niagara-on-the-Lake

Meanwhile, Niagara-on-the-Lake Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa said his town saw over 160 mm of rain in some areas in a single night on July 27.

He said on Sunday the town was inundated with rain throughout the day on Sunday.

“It came in heavy again in the evening, another 100 mm over a few hours from 8 p.m. to midnight,” Zalepa told CBC News on Monday.

“Our systems …  our ditches and our culverts and that are designed to take a certain amount of rain. This is way in excess of that.”

Zalepa said the deluge has resulted in “water backing up in our vineyards and our orchards, our tender fruit, many of our farms. But we also had houses impacted. We’ve had water coming over land, so coming through doors and windows, literally. And we’ve had water coming up from the bottom of the basement.”

He said the authorities are still assessing and helping residents, businesses and farmers deal with the aftermath of the flooding.

“When it rained last night … it just overwhelmed everything and starts backing up. It was cresting over roads, it was spilling over culverts,” Zalepa said.

“There’s a culvert … that we just put in not too long ago, and it was overflowing. So, it ends up going into people’s houses, it’s flooding greenhouses, business operations, and now orchards.”