A state of emergency has been declared in Fingal, southwest of London, Ont. The community has been hit by heavy flooding for the second time this week. Watching water flow around her home, Angie Mailhot said she was at her wits’ end. “It’s unlivable, because you can’t flush a toilet or take a shower,” she said. But she is not alone. Dozens of residents have floodwater inside their basements, including George Henshaw, who reported his two sub pumps could not slow down the flow. “Come down at seven o’clock and it was starting to flood out, cause the pumps weren’t taking the water out. It had no place to go,” he recalled. The aftermath around town may have been a delight for dogs spotted playing in puddles, but for humans, it was upsetting. “It’s mind-blowing!” said Matthew Desjardins, whose home escaped the water. Still, he feels for his neighbours, “I mean, just like the other day, when we were like, ‘Oh my goodness,’ it is worse than it was!” As homes, a park, and multiple roads were washed out, the township of Southwold declared a state of emergency. Firefighters conducted wellness checks throughout the morning. Deputy Mayor Justin Pennings stated council had ‘no choice’ after nearly 145 mm of rain, or 5.6 inches, fell Friday morning. That adds to an estimate of four inches or more earlier this week. “On Tuesday, we had a storm that was beyond a 1 in 100-year rainfall event. This morning, we received a new storm beyond a 1 in 250-year event,” said Pennings. Among the hardest hit, there is plenty of finger-pointing. Most residents contend that a construction project to replace storm sewers ironically worsened flood waters. But the contractor and the municipality said neither the old storm sewer system nor the new one could have handled the volume of water. “The new system would be designed for a 1 in 100-year storm, at its best. So, no, we would not have with the new system that’s being installed right now,” said the deputy mayor. Still, resident Tammy Rowe wonders if the old system was taken offline for construction, “We have the municipal drain run down the side of our property, and I have never seen it flood like that.” But Patryk Latacki, a spokesperson for the contractor, contends that is not the case, adding his teams are doing everything they can to help with the situation. He told CTV News that “no resources that we have could have helped to prevent this level of flooding.” “It’s the kind of storm that it is not possible to mitigate the damages from,” added Pennings. But Henshaw still questions the conclusion as he begins to clean up, “Somebody’s got to pay for it. Whether it is the insurance company or someone else.” Mailhot had a similar take: “Honestly, I’m not trusting the process or the powers that be in charge right now, at all,” she said with a sigh.
