Brantford residents recount devastating flood on 5-year anniversary

The anniversary of the Brantford flood Five years ago, some Brantford homes were evacuated after the Grand River spilled its banks. CTV’s Tyler Kelaher hears from the GRCA.

Wednesday marks the anniversary that some Brantford residents would like to forget.

It’s been five years since the west side flood forced thousands of people out of their homes.

The flood forced around 2,200 homes to be evacuated as the city issued a state of emergency due to water levels continuing to rise throughout the day.

One person told CTV News the water was right to their knees when they stepped down the stairs.

Oliver Zuder has lived on Grand River Avenue for 15 years, about 100 yards from the river itself.

“When I looked out the door the water was already pretty high,” Zuder said as he recalled the flood.

He said he was awoken by police at his door telling him and his family to evacuate immediately.

“Grabbed the kids, got them out,” Zuder said.

He said the event caused $35,000 to his home.

“It was all preventable because they never closed the levy after they got rid of the train tracks. That was the sad part,” said Zuder.

Zuder said he isn’t worried about coming face to face with another flood, but that he’ll never forget what happened five years ago.

“It’s part of history now I guess,” he said.

According to the Grand River Conservation Authority, the flood was caused by a rapid thaw compounded by a significant ice jam.

“Flooding is always going to happen when you have properties and business and residence are built within the floodplain,” Cam Linwood with the Grand River Conservation Authority said.

Some residents blame an unfinished dike at the end of Grand River Avenue, saying the worst could have been avoided if the dike was filled

“Flooding is always going to happen when you have properties and business and residence are built within the floodplain,” said Linwood.

“We’ve got better monitoring that came out of the 2018 event, better alarm thresholds that kind of give us some better warnings at the same time, and we also have a better understanding of the types of conditions that actually form ice in the grand river watershed,” Linwood said.

Some of the displaced were forced to stay at local community centres for up to a week.

“Our gymnasium was pretty much sleeping quarters, there were cots that were brought in. It was kind if chaotic at first,” said Kim Rolson, Coordinator of Woodman Park Community Centre.