Heavy rainfall from thunderstorm floods parts of Essex County

Flooding seen in Essex County, Ont. on Sept. 24, 2025. (Source: Lidia Franzoi)

Torrential downpours yielded 50 to 100 millimetres of rainfall Wednesday morning, resulting localized flooding in parts of southwestern Ontario.

A severe thunderstorm warning was issued by Environment Canada prior to the event, which moved into Harrow around 10:20 a.m.

Some area residents recalled sheets of rain that lasted for about an hour. Flooding closed parts of County Road 50 with engineers declaring a road failure at County Road 50 and Pleasure Beach Road, in part, due to erosion.

Crews have been making their way across Essex, continuing to assess the damage and ongoing safety risks.

In addition, County Road 20 at Gore was flooded and the runoff flooded nearby residential property. It’s an ongoing problem for some locals due to insufficient drainage infrastructure and a lack flood mitigation protocols.

Lidia Franzoi is a nearby resident whose backyard floods after heavy rainfall.

The adjacent surface grading flows from County Road 20, and the public lands around the intersection at Gore Road, directly towards Franzoi’s property, with no barrier or high water-level run-off infrastructure in place.

“There was supposed to be changes and infrastructure is what I read, and I’m not sure if that happened or not, but here we are again in the same situation,” said Franzoi.

“The town is underwater and we’re screaming for help. I don’t know if anybody’s hearing us.”