Mayor’s Message on Flooding

HALTON HILLS, ON – These past few days we have seen an extraordinary amount of rainfall. Given that these weather events are occurring much more frequently, I wanted to share some information with you as to the Town’s recent response as well as resources you may wish to access.

Tuesday saw significant rain with Conservation Halton reporting upwards of 75 mm and Credit Valley Conservation reporting up to 118 mm within their watersheds. (To put this into context, we received more than a month’s worth of rain in one weather event!) Conservation authorities play an important role in keeping the public informed about flood waters and impacts to our natural environment. Check out their websites to see the latest messages about flooding.  

Tuesday’s weather resulted in staff temporarily closing a number of roads until the water subsided, including Steeles Ave at Sixth Line and Sixth Line just North of Steeles 5 SR between Eighth and Ninth Lines. Our Public Works staff worked into the night and coordinated efforts with Halton Region when one lane of Trafalgar Road was temporarily closed due to a culvert failure.

Local parks and sportfields were also hard hit by the weather and some were temporarily closed. The baseball diamond at Hornby Park has been closed for the season while the rest of the grounds have been temporarily closed to give them a chance to dry out. Information about closures can be found on the Town’s website. Parks staff have also been inspecting trails to ensure they are safe and I urge caution to watch for fallen tree limbs or slippery areas.

Also on Tuesday, we were forced to close Town Hall due to flooding in our building which also impacted telephone lines and some of our online services. I am sorry if we missed any of your urgent calls but our facilities, maintenance and technology staff worked flat out to repair and restore services within 24 hours.

I was advised that over 80 people from Halton Hills called the Region with flooding in basements and other property issues. Some Norval roads became rivers and properties were waterlogged and some areas of Georgetown were similarly threatened. I do hope that those who have been impacted are able to get things resolved quickly and that there was not significant damage to your home or property.

The Region has important information about flooding and urban flood prevention measures on their website. They offer a $1000 grant to property owners impacted by flooding if Halton Region staff identify the cause to be a blockage on the municipal side of the wastewater system or a wastewater backup due to a sewer surcharge. The Region also offers an Enhanced Basement Flooding Prevention Subsidy Program. The Region has committed to extending their waste collection program for the period Monday, July 22, and Friday, August 2 to support clean-up efforts and will be providing enhanced curbside waste collection services to residents who have reported property flooding or sewer backups to them. To connect with Halton Region, call 3-1-1 or visit their website at halton.ca.

Managing the effects of this storm has been a challenge and I thank those who helped to keep us safe and our property damage limited. I am sure that our resilience will be tested again in the future as we face wilder and wetter weather in the face of climate change and global warming.