Every time it rains, John Woodcock runs down to his basement.
The First Avenue man was one of many homeowners affected by the May 28 flood. He’s still waiting to hear back from his insurance company as his house remains damaged.
“Our basement walls are caving in from the water pressure and it still has not been resolved,” Woodcock said standing outside of his home Thursday morning. “We’re sort of up in the air wondering what’s going to happen so every heavy rain fall that we get we’re concerned.”
Woodcock was concerned again after heavy rainfall early Thursday morning caused surface flooding in his neighbourhood.
The city had to shut down Fort William Road between First and Second Avenue to pump water from one side of the street to the other. Despite some surface flooding, city environmental manager Kerri Marshall said infrastructure performed well.
There were no reports of flooded homes and the city’s Atlantic Avenue sewage treatment plant performed well.
“We do have staff out monitoring the collection systems and we’ll certainly take the necessary steps to do whatever we can to prevent any future flooding,” she said.
Woodcock said while the city has been supportive, it’s not doing everything it can to prevent flooding in problem area like his. Water just isn’t moving fast enough. He wants to see more ditches in the neighbourhood.
“As a kid I used to go out into the spring when the snow was melting and dig these little ditches in the soil to make the water go away. I think the city needs to do that,” he said.
That could be one of the recommendations of a major study and assessment the city has commissioned on flood-prone areas.
“We’ll be hoping to get some good recommendations from that consultant about how we can look at putting improvements in place,” Marshall said.
Until then, Woodcock said he’s not sure how much longer he can take whenever the rain starts to fall.
“If our basement gets flooded again enough will be enough,” he said. “My wife and I feel like we’re in limbo. The issue from May 28th isn’t resolved yet we don’t know what’s going to happen with the house.”
Marshall encourages anyone with a concern to call the city’s dispatch centre
