Wanted: Flooding Answers

Melissa Mercer's flooded basement

By Melissa Mercer

Is that thunder?  Are we expecting rain?  Hurry check the basement!

This is the new mantra of the residents of Chine North (and I am sure our neighbours to the west in Birch Cliff) since what’s being called the “100 year storm” ripped through our neighbourhoods sending sewage water into our basements on July 15 th.

Devastating impact

Over 370 houses in Ward 36 had sewer water back up in their basements. Some people lost everything.  The impact has been devastating as we deal with personal loss, intense frustration with insurance companies, contractors and restoration companies.

$60 K waterproofing estimate

I have heard countless stories of outrageous clean-up bills and questionable quotes for waterproofing and flood prevention mechanisms. I myself was quoted $60,000  for external waterproofing!!!!  Must be gold weeping tiles I thought to myself!   It truly is disheartening to see some folks using our time of weakness to their advantage!

But it doesn’t stop there.

Like Melissa Mercer, many Ward 36 residents fear the rain.

Fear of the rain

Every time we see a dark storm cloud hovering nearby or hear drops of rain on our rooftops it sends a wave of panic and us running to our basements with dread.

On first day of school, my son and I awoke to the sound of rain pounding down on our windows. First day excitement turned into angst and worry. Even my five-year old who should have been excited about the day ahead, paused to ask, “Is the rain going to come inside?!”

I checked the basement and carried on with our day, all the while feeling a little unnerved. Later that day, as I was heading out to go shopping I noticed the rain intensified. I turned my car around, not once but twice, in indecision. Should I go home?

My biggest fear was I would be required to submit a second claim if the sewer backed up.

Time for answers

Melissa Mercer's basement now

This is not how I want to live. But until I have answers it will be what consumes me every time it rains.

Here it is almost two months after the storm and we still don’t know what happened.  Nor do we have any idea as to what has been done to the sewers since that day!

What we have heard is that we had a major storm event pass through our neighborhood. This however is not  good enough for the folks who live in Chine North or Birch Cliff.   For Chine North specifically, this problem is new to these residents, some of whom have been here over 50 years. You can’t tell me that we have never had a hundred year storm pass through in the last 50 years.

Residents still waiting

So why do we not have answers two month’s later?

Well, let me give you some background, a small group of neighbours, including myself, organized a community meeting on July 22nd .We invited the Councillors from the affected Wards and Mayor Ford.  Councillor Crawford, Ward 36 and Councillor Debaeremaeker, Ward 38 showed up and listened to our woes for a remarkable 3-plus hours. The constituents made it very clear what answers they were seeking and the councillors diligently made notes.

Mayor Rob Ford visits 87-year old flooding victim Elsie Ritchie, who is not insured.

Mayor Ford:  Wait until city staff off holidays

Although Mayor Ford did not make it to the meeting, he did return my call a week later. He explained to me how they were working with top officials from Toronto water and that they would get us answers. But, of course I needed to understand the constraints they were faced with due to the unfortunate timing of our floods. It was summer, and we would most likely have to wait until folks were available and back from vacation to get the answers we needed.

So while they were busy at their cottages or at their favorite summer spots we were left waiting and waiting.  Our summers were compromised because the CITY’S sewer water rushed into our basements and shook our lives upside down in an instant. I unfortunately couldn’t tell the water to wait until a more convenient time.

Flooding meetings scheduled

City of Toronto graphic from Ward 35 meeting shows severity of east end flooding

Well here we are in September! Everyone should be back from holidays, rested and ready to work!  So now it is time for answers.

All of the Councillors have scheduled meetings over the next few weeks. I am of course very hopeful we will be hearing what we want and need to hear from the city officials at these meetings!

“Flooding 101” is not enough

However, I am concerned that our needs or message is not being understood.  I attended Councillor Berardinetti’s meeting for Ward 35 on September 6th and there were no specific answers. There was a generic presentation, essentially a “flooding 101” lesson. There was nothing specific about what caused the flooding in Ward 35.

Looking down a sanitary sewer (separated)

Ward 35 residents “bewildered”

The Toronto Water official gave a power point presentation explaining the various sewer systems in the city of Toronto – combined, partially separated and separated.  But, there was no clear indication which scenario applied to the constituents of Ward 35, who were sitting bewildered by the overall message being delivered. Basically, it consisted of instructions on how homeowners can help ensure the city’s inadequate sewer system doesn’t back up into their homes!

Obviously, each neighbourhood affected has specific questions about their particular infrastructure and the intended resolution. Some of our questions are simple, basic, obvious and pure common sense. Nonetheless, I have outlined them below. So, if anyone from Toronto Water is reading this article, get out your pen and take notes! And please don’t come to Councillor Crawford’s meeting on September 19th  without these answers!  Here we go:

Flooding questions that need to be answered

1. Have our sewers been scoped since July 15th? That means physical cameras placed down the sewers and checked for blockages?
2. If not, why? Wouldn’t mass flooding warrant a detailed inspection?
3. If so, what did you find? And what have you done to fix it?
4. Has there been any maintenance done on our sewers since July 15th and if so when?  If not, why and when was it done last?
5. What is the regular maintenance schedule of our sewer systems? Who maintains our sewer systems (the city or contracted out) and is there any plan to modify this schedule in the near future?

Some questions specific for Chine North

1. What happened at the pumping station at Wirral Ct? Why did people have both sanitary and sewer water in their basements?
2. Have we ruled out poor road grading on Chine Drive?  Roads are built and graded to handle a 25 year storm(the sewers are built to a 5 year storm)? And before you say our subdivision does not have a proper drainage plan because of its age, I ask you why this would not have been considered when the roads were resurfaced when new sanitary was put in on Chine in 2010? As a side note, this makes you also wonder if there is a connection to the crap that was floating in people’s basement`s on July 15th? Is there?
3. What about the new subdivision at St. Clair and Midland?   The drainage plans show that it was built to a 100 year storm and the drainage is to go to a dry sediment pond.  Who maintains that sediment pond, seeing as the city has not assumed the drawings yet?  When was the last scheduled maintenance? What about the road grading and lot grading and of that community?  Do you know for sure that only 5 per cent drainage is going into our sewer system? Also, who made the calculations and decided our sewer system can handle it?  Which formula was used?

As you can see, I have been doing my research. Now I hope and ask the city officials to do yours and provide truthful and honest answers to these questions.