‘We’re getting through it’: Ottawa residents continue difficult flood clean-up

Ottawa neighbourhoods hard hit by flooding are lined with garbage and residents say cleaning up is no simple task. CTV’s Tyler Fleming reports.

The cleanup is underway in Ottawa neighbourhoods hard-hit by Wednesday’s record-breaking Canada Day rainstorm, with piles of soaked furniture, drywall and personal belongings lining streets as residents begin clearing-out flooded basements.

In the west-end neighbourhood of Crystal Beach, firefighters continued heading door-to-door conducting wellness checks on Friday as residents deal with the aftermath.

Many homes were flooded with sewage-contaminated water, forcing some homeowners to tear out drywall, carpeting, furniture and appliances.

Matt Pepper, who moved into his home just a week before the storm, says the flooding quickly overwhelmed his basement.

“My wife was home and she calls me in a panic saying there’s a bunch of water in the basement but that was just the start of it,” he says.

“The carpets, all the drywall is ruined, doors, any furniture that was down there. Like we had a couch down there, the freezer, water heater and the furnace are all toast. Pretty much everything that was in 16 inches of water down there is toast.”

Pepper says despite the destruction, the disaster has brought neighbours together.

“It’s honestly been okay to meet the neighbours this way because we’re all in the same boat and they’re all willing to help,” he says.

Neighbour Kyle Newnes, who has lived in the area for close to 20 years, says a flooding event like this has never happened but now, as far as he knows, every home on his street was affected.

“Ours was flooded to the top of the first step of the basement,” he says. “Lots of garbage. Lots, lots of memories. But people have been helping each other out, exchanging information, food. It is a good neighbourhood.”

The City of Ottawa has lifted curbside garbage limits in affected neighbourhoods and will begin additional waste collection in some areas Monday. For the next several weeks, households in flooded areas can also place up to two bins of construction materials, like drywall, at the curb. Items the city does not normally collect.

In a post on X, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says the additional measures are intended to support the more than 3,200 families affected by flooding, many who have been forced to throw away cherished belongings.

In Bay Ward, Ottawa councillor Theresa Kavanagh is among those cleaning up, after her own basement flooded with about a metre of sewage-contaminated water.

“I’m fortunate my husband’s been doing a lot. It’s very difficult but we’re getting through it,” she says.

“A lot of people are affected, so they’ll be a special pickup to help people out and get that garbage out of the way. We got to get that messy, stinky stuff out of here and that’s very important. Like me, a lot of people had sewage going to their basement, not everybody, but it’s obviously contaminated, and everything has to go.”

Hydro Ottawa has restored power to most of the roughly 36,000 customers who lost electricity during the storm, but several hundred remain without service. The utility says some equipment was damaged by flooding and restoration may take longer in areas that remain inaccessible.

The storm may also have affected the Stage 2 west LRT extension.

On Friday, at the below-grade New Orchard station along Richmond Road, large red and blue hoses appeared to be draining water from the tracks, up to the street and into the sewer.

The city says contractor East West Connectors is carrying out an initial assessment and that further updates will be provided at a future Transit Committee meeting.

Since Wednesday, Ottawa firefighters have responded to about 700 storm-related calls, including electrical hazards and downed power lines. Forestry Services has received more than 150 reports of hazardous or fallen trees, while traffic services have addressed nearly 100 traffic signal issues.

The city is reminding residents to contact their electricity provider before entering flooded areas where electrical equipment may have been affected.

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