Cleanup underway after 118 mm of rain hits Ottawa on Canada Day

CTV Your Morning Ottawa Host Rosey Edeh has your Thursday morning headlines.

The cleanup is underway after a record-breaking 118 mm of rain soaked Ottawa on Canada Day, flooding roads and basements and cancelling birthday celebrations across Ottawa.

Rain and thunderstorms began moving through the national capital region between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Wednesday, forcing the cancellation of several Canada Day events across Ottawa.

Flooding was reported on residential streets and on Highways 416 and 417 through the afternoon and early evening, with several roads temporarily closed through the afternoon and evening. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said more than 1,400 people called 3-1-1 to report their basements had flooded.

• Ottawa receives 118 mm of rain on Canada Day, flooding roads and knocking out power

The Ottawa Police Service says two roads remain closed due to flooding Thursday morning – Moodie Drive south of Carling Avenue and Scott Street between Hinchey Avenue and Stirling Avenue.

Environment Canada says 118 mm of rain was recorded at the Ottawa Airport on Wednesday, setting a record for the greatest rainfall on July 1 in Ottawa history. The previous rainfall record for July 1 in Ottawa was 58.9 mm, set in 1959.

The total comes second for all-time rainfall in Ottawa history, behind Sept. 9, 2004’s record of 135.4 mm, which was caused by remnants of Hurricane Frances.

City of Ottawa

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe told CTV Your Morning Ottawa that 1,450 residents reported a flooded basement by calling 3-1-1. He encouraged other residents experiencing flooding to use the city’s online portal.

“I spoke to a few people last night who had lost everything that was in their basement, so, you know, we’re going to be dealing with stories like that. I encourage people to connect with their insurance companies, and again, if you haven’t already, please go online and report your flooded basement at the 3-1-1 portal that’s on our website,” Sutcliffe said. “That allows us to be faster and more efficient at responding to you than if you’re calling 3-1-1, which will take longer, so please use the website.”

Sutcliffe says he has asked city staff to suspend garbage limits and waive building fees for people who need to repair their basements.

“We’re looking at extra garbage collection days for people who are getting rid of material that’s been damaged by flooded basements. We’re looking at lifting the limits on garbage collection over the next week for the same reason,” the mayor said.

“For people who are later going to need to renovate and repair their basements, we’re going to look at waiving the building permit fees associated with that, so we’ll do everything we can to support people who are affected by this.”

In an update Wednesday evening, the city said its Emergency Command Centre was assessing city-wide impacts, including power outages, localized flooding on roadways and in basements, downed tress and other service impacts.

“City services and our partner agencies continue to respond across the community,” Ryan Perrault, general manager of emergency and protective services, said in a statement.

“While response efforts remain ongoing, some services have been operating at reduced capacity due to the statutory holiday, and in some instances staff were required to shelter in place until it was safe to respond.”

Hydro

Approximately 6,000 customers remained without power across Ottawa on Thursday morning.

“We’re responding as safely and quickly as possible to outages caused by thunderstorms across the region,” Hydro Ottawa said on its website.

“The estimated time of restoration may change as crews assess damage onsite and begin repairs. Some customers may remain without power overnight.”

According to the Hydro Ottawa outage map, approximately 1,100 customers are without power in the Bells Corners and Bruce Farm neighbourhood.

Hydro One is reporting more than 15,000 customers without power on Thursday morning in an area stretching from Kingston to Ottawa and Cornwall. The largest outages are in the Gananoque area (3,000 customers) and Brockville area (2,358 customers).

Hydro One says approximately 2,000 customers are without power in an area stretching from Metcalfe to Morewood and Cannamore.

Power is expected to be restored by this evening to most customers.

About 120 homes in Orléans on Hydro One’s grid also remained without power Thursday morning.

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