Sun Jul. 26 2009 4:12:47 PM
Kew Beach flood clean up could cost thousands, homeowners threaten legal action
cp24.com
A resident from Kew Beach Avenue vacuums up water from flooding due to heavy rain on July 26, 2009.
Some homeowners in the Beach are threatening to take legal action against the city after their homes were flooded following heavy rain storms this weekend.
"Manhole covers, catch basins, everything was just gushing," says Marilyn Lake, whose home near Woodbine Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard was flooded.
She and Brian Lee took CP24 on a tour of their home as they assessed the damage. Belongings from their basement were drying out in their drive way.
The couple is among some of the residents near Kew Beach Avenue who are complaining they have suffered through this before and they blame the city for letting it happen again.
They say large holding tanks in the area overflow into their homes whenever there's a heavy rainfall. The couple says their home also flooded last July under similar circumstances.
"The pipes may be old, they're obviously poorly designed and they can't handle a simple summer rainstorm," says Lee, explaining that there were no floods before the city installed the equipment.
He claims the City told him to understand that the infrastructure is old and that he'd have to deal with it.
"I don't accept that. If the city has money in its budget for everything else, it needs to redesign the sewer system down here," he says.
The family is now looking at a hefty repair bill. Lake says that after the last flood, the insurance company did $30,000 worth of repairs. Another resident, Rob Boyco says his house suffered $80,000 damage last year.
"We were completely flooded out, after that our insurance was cancelled because they felt this whole area was too much of a high risk," she explains.
"There's a responsibility there to provide us with adequate drainage and to not have city water end up on private property," says Lee.
Lee and Lake say there are a number of lawyers who live in the area and residents are looking at their legal options.
The city installed the retention tanks as a measure to improve beach water quality and bring Kew Beach up to the Blue Flag international cleanliness standard.
City strategic communications director Kevin Sack says the tanks are not backing up and causing the catch basins to overflow.
Calls to the city to find out what they say the problem is were not immediately returned.
More flooding happened near Ontario Place, where motorists got a wild ride on Lake Shore Boulevard as water flooded the road in both directions after Sunday's thunderstorm quickly moved through.
Water on some stretches of the road was so high, cars were covered in up to half a metre of water.
Rain also overwhelmed sewers near Eastern Avenue and Leslie Street. Most cars were making it through the intersection on Saturday. But, at one point, police shut it down to let the rainwater drain away.
Some vehicles with wet engines and wiring were difficult to start Sunday morning.
| E-Mail Story |
Comments are now closed for this story
July 26, 2009 at 3:11:50 PM
Ed
With all the garbage piled up around the city (behind houses, in ally ways, temp dump sites etc.) I wonder what this is going to do to our water with all this rain washing through all that rubbish. I really hope someone is looking into this before we have another Walkerton on our hands.
July 26, 2009 at 3:28:33 PM
Dan
Are we going to blame this one on the Mayor and the union too?
July 26, 2009 at 4:05:25 PM
webby
gimme a break - get off your hoity toity high horses - natural disasters happen - either pay for the insurance or pay the extra taxes to protect your property against extraordinary circumstances. In any even stop whining!
July 26, 2009 at 5:05:26 PM
Mary
The city is flooding because the water pumps at Ash bridges water plant, are not working properly. Due to the city strike the qualified workers are unable to fix the issues. Unfortunately these workers non-union supervisors, who are suppose to fix these issues are not qualified nor do they have the knowledge.
If you would like to see this fixed, hope that the strike ends soon. On a side note, has anyone thought about the water quality going into peoples homes during this strike or what is going into lake Ontario. There is no control.
July 26, 2009 at 5:18:57 PM
Rodney
Stop voting for these dead-beat City Councillors and Mayors who think bike lanes are more important than flood protection
July 26, 2009 at 6:35:26 PM
Dave
I feel sorry for these people welcome to cut backs. Thank The Leaders.
July 26, 2009 at 8:28:17 PM
danny
Millers office has lots of money for parades and entertainment but nothing for sewer -roads and garbage services. talk about loser town we sure have it here in hog town.
July 27, 2009 at 12:56:06 AM
Harold
We are the Beachers, and we put up with the stinky plant beside us, and our bad street signs. At least we should demand that our beach have proper things to keep us from flooding, right? Otherwise our bongs float away.
July 27, 2009 at 1:59:04 AM
Adam, Toronto
I don't blame them for going after the city, at least one of the residents stated that their policy was cancelled because it was a "high risk" area. If you can't get insurance and the city isn't doing enough to fix the problem then they should pay for all cost related to the damage. It would probably be cheaper for the city to fix the problem than to deal with the hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawyers and settlements.
Danny parades and entertainment make money sewers, roads and garbage service cost money. So I have heard Toronto doesn't have the money for that important stuff, we'll just have to make do with whats already there broken or not.
July 27, 2009 at 6:48:55 AM
steve milley
hey miller, how about doing your JOB and rebuild some of our old storm drains. why spend over a billion dollars on street cars? STREET CARS! that form of transportation is as old as some of our drainage pipes. we toronto citizens deserve a real mayor. someone that works for the whole city. not just his friends. oops sorry, you have no friends left,unless you count your council commies.
July 27, 2009 at 6:52:54 AM
lovethebeach
A rainstorm, even a big one is not a 'natural disaster'. Beaches residents not only have paid their insurance, they've paid through the nose for their taxes as well.
Maybe if where YOU lived had tens of thousands of dollars of damage and other people's excrement in your basement you'd be a bit more understanding.
July 27, 2009 at 7:19:26 AM
Gio - No piles of garbage here...
THESE are the kind of issues that the 'Mayor' and his fellow bike riders should be addressing - basic services to the Tax payers of Toronto...!!
To all you people who voted for Miller...how much longer can his circus keep messing things up, side-tracking from and avoiding the REAL issues....?
At this rate maybe those 'oh so important' bike lanes can be put to use.... for wheeling garbage from dumpsite to dumpsite !!
July 27, 2009 at 8:09:51 AM
Mary Grady
Rodney is absolutely right, that the bike lanes take priority with the city hall. There needs to be a clean sweep of the city hall.
Out with all the dead beats who let our city get turned into a garbage dump.
July 27, 2009 at 8:27:29 AM
Jeremy
Perhaps many of you should do your research before blaming the mayor. In our municipal system, the mayor has only one vote, the same as all other councillors.
There is only a finite amount of money, unless you want a raise in taxes. If I were a Kew Beach resident and had gone through multiple floods in the past two years and couldn't get insurance, I would do the prudent thing and move.
July 27, 2009 at 8:56:18 AM
EB
Is it just me or do residents of the "Beach" like to whine a lot? First it was the ridiculous debate over whether to call it the Beach or the Beaches, then it was blaming the city for the fact that there are coyotes in the area, now it's the city's fault that there's a lot of rain? Wake up: the Beach isn't the only part of the city that got flooded in the storm.
July 27, 2009 at 9:22:54 AM
Peter
How come the City has no money to fix the problem at the Beach? You should come and see generous wasting of taxpayers money on Verwood Ave. and neighbouring street, where the perfectly functioning water main is being replaced, and the perfect road pavement and curbs are being ripped off and put back. And the price is … $2,500,000.00…
July 27, 2009 at 9:33:11 AM
Patricia
to webby: these people's insurance was cancelled due to where they lived!
This is totally unacceptable. If the conditions are that poor, then the city has a responsibility to repair/redesign the issues. I don't think the city offers the option of "paying the extra taxes to protect your property against extraordinary circumstances" is even offered, or even moral. That this exact same problem happened only last year, should be a clear indication that something must be done.