Homeowners faced as much as six feet of sewage in basements

Ken Johnston
Editor

Rain, rain go away... don’t come back another day!

That was the chant echoing through Rainy River and several communities along Highway 11 after torrential rains fell quickly and steadily July 31, 2001.

Lightning added fuel to the fire by knocking out the power for about four hours that evening. That ment that unless a person had a generator, they had no way of pumping out their basements.

Several people reported water/sewage as high as six feet.

Larry Armstrong said the water came within a few inches of his breaker panel. Calling Hydro One he was told that a work order would go in but it was doubtful that anyone would make it there with so much devastation around the region. He noted that he slept outside in his van waiting for the power to come back on and sent his wife to his daughters place to be safe in case the power came back on and it blew up.

Armstrong as well as many other people had major appliances floating around their basements. Most, according to local electrician Wayne McCarthy, were ruined.

While seepage was a big problem the local sewer system filled very quickly with excess rain and forced basements to flood with not only rain water but sewage. Some people capped their sewers off and prevented much of it from getting in. However some of those had problems they did not foresee.

There was so much pressure and no where for the water and sewage to go that it caused basement floors to blowout and in one case it lifted up a house by putting pressure on the support posts.

The aftermath from the flood saw a huge number of insurance claims flood into local broker’s offices. Extra staff was added at Gillons to man the phones and within a day or two there were adjusters and cleaning crews in Rainy River.

Most people were being told to rip out the walls, floors and insulation with the intention of getting things dry, clean and disinfected. Ted Fitzgerald of Gillons said the next step is to rebuild and replace. He said the reconstruction phase of the disaster will be a difficult one as there are only so many contractors in the area. While it is hoped that local contractors will be utilized as much as possible Fitzgerald said crews from outside the area may need to be brought in.

That is already the case for the assessing and cleaning phase. Maureen Downs of Gillons said that, “We can’t find enough cleaners, contractors or adjusters to meet the demand.” She anticipates the next few months will be busy just dealing with the storm of one night.