VICTORIA -- Over two dozen families are scrambling to find childcare after a Saanich facility was flooded over the weekend.
Kim Sinclair, the owner of Little Friends Childcare, walked into the daycare's basement on Sunday to find the floor covered in a brown liquid.
“I stepped on the carpet and it was just soup, it was soaking wet,” said Sinclair.
At first, she was shocked to see the basement flooded, but then panic set in about how she would fix the giant mess.
“We don’t want to have to keep them closed, but there is no way we can put children in there safely,” she said.
On Sunday night, they emailed all the families in the two programs offered at the daycare saying that families had to find alternate care.
Sinclair said every wall in the basement will need to be replaced and that the drywall is disintegrating. All of the toys and pieces of equipment that have touched the water will also need to be thrown away.
“The water has travelled through from outside to inside so it could bring any fertilizer and dirt,” said Sinclair.
Now, 28 children cannot attend daycare in the building on High Street and parents are rushing to find alternative help.
“It is going to put a lot of strain on us, we are going to miss a lot of work I think,” said Jeff Louis.
Another father said they don’t have family in town and aren’t sure what they will do.
“It’s beyond ‘hey I can call a friend or get a sitter,’ we don’t have family in town,” said Bruce Greenway. “My wife and I need to discuss what we are going to do.”
He said he is trying to get work done with his daughter off from care and that his wife is at work.
One parent said he is still dealing with the shock of the facility being closed and is hoping they can find a fix quickly.
“We just have to be able to come together and talk about it and create a plan,” said Nick Stecz.
Sinclair said the damage is in the tens of thousands of dollars and could take between two to four months to repair.
“I know that is going to wear on the parents pretty soon, it is a trickle effect,” she said.
An Environment Canada meteorologist tells CTV News Vancouver Island that this January was the second wettest one in the organization's history.
“Victoria saw 291 millimetres [of rain] in January when it usually sees an average of 143 millimetres, so 203 per cent of normal,” said Armel Castellan, Environment Canada meteorologist. “The wettest was 1953 with 359 millimetres.”
On Friday night alone, 38.4 millimetres fell in the Greater Victoria area, beating the record for that day set in 1974 of 31.5 millimetres.
Little Friends is now scrambling to get a license for a temporary space while they wait for their building to get fixed.
“Daycare spaces that are adequate are few and far between,” she said. “So to find a spot they are going to license quickly is almost impossible.”
Little Friends is reaching out to neighbours for help and are hoping to find a church or community centre to use in the interim while the facility gets repaired.
