City crews in North Bay will be conducting cleanup over the coming days across areas affected by Tuesday’s flooding. “Flooding on some streets occurred due to a combination of already-elevated water levels from the spring melt and a large amount of rain falling in a very short period,” the city said in a news release Wednesday. “This created a surge of runoff that exceeded the immediate capacity of parts of the stormwater system, leading to temporary flooding until water levels began to recede, and the system could catch up.” Areas near Chippewa Creek were particularly affected because the creek overflowed, the city said. “As a result of these elevated volumes, the city’s Wastewater Treatment Plant initiated a secondary bypass. This measure, to protect the treatment process, allows partially treated effluent to be discharged to Lake Nipissing.” The effluent must still meet certain Ministry of Environment requirements and the city reports to the ministry each time it occurs. “The high inflows to the plant also caused the primary treatment tanks to overflow, resulting in partially treated wastewater spilling onto the site and onto a portion of Memorial Drive,” the release said. “City crews acted quickly to close the street and to clean the overflow. Memorial Drive was reopened a short time later. While influent flows have started to decline, the facility continues to operate under bypass conditions at this time.” The flooding resulted in washout damage to road shoulders in some areas and there were a number of private properties near Chippewa Creek that experienced flooding. A number of homes had their hydro service disconnected for safety. Duke Street remains closed for cleanup and all other impacted streets are open. “This was a significant weather event, which led to localized flooding conditions not typically experienced at this scale,” Mayor Peter Chirico said in the release. “I want to acknowledge the efforts of city staff who responded quickly throughout the day and night. I also want to recognize the homeowners who were directly affected. Many have experienced damage, disruption, and unexpected costs, and we understand the impact this has had on them.” Rain is in the forecast in the coming days, and city said that its staff will continue to closely monitor conditions across the community. “Residents with concerns about their properties are encouraged to take precautionary steps to protect their homes, including checking sump pumps, clearing drains and moving valuables to higher ground,” the release said. “A sandbag filling station is available at Public Works on Franklin Street. City crews and emergency services will remain on standby to respond as needed if conditions change. Please call 911 for emergencies only.”
