A pair of municipalities in Niagara Region, St. Catharines and Lincoln, have both declared a state of emergency due to flooding following heavy rainfall.
In a video recorded from his flooded basement, St. Catharines, Ont., Mayor Mat Siscoe said his city has seen a “hurricane’s worth” of rain in recent days resulting in thousands of flooded homes.
“Many residents are reliving the devastating experience of flooding for the second time in less than a week, and Sunday’s storm extended those impacts to even more neighbourhoods across St. Catharines,” Siscoe said in a declaration issued Monday.
“This declaration underscores the severity of what our community has experienced and the need for continued support from our partners at all levels of government as we work together through recovery.”
It comes after officials say a pair of “intense storms” dropped more than 140 mm of rain on the city in less than a week. They said the storms produced “two to three times” the amount of rain that was forecast.
St. Catharines, along with other parts of Niagara Region, was under a rainfall warning Sunday with more than 50 mm of rain expected. A tornado warning was issued at one point as the storm worsened.
‘Good chunk of our community ... underwater’
Speaking with CP24 late Monday afternoon, Siscoe said St. Catharines, which has a population of just under 137,000, has actually been hit with three intense storms in the last 10 days, two that occurred in the last five and all of which brought more than 100 mm of rain.
“The second storm was really when things accelerated our entire north end and. Actually, the top two thirds of our city experienced flooding in different areas,” he said.
“And then with the ground absolutely saturated yesterday, we got another. I think it was 170 millimeters at the most recorded in the city.”
Siscoe said the water simply had nowhere to go.
“It was inside homes and so we saw all of the homes that had been flooded last Tuesday get flooded again along with a whole host of additional houses. So really, a good chunk of our community right now is underwater,” he said.
Siscoe said the city rolled out enhanced garbage pickup on Monday to help people clear out debris damaged by the flooding and has also removed bag limits.
He went on to say that St. Catharines has hundreds of vulnerable residents, many of whom are older and have accessibility challenges, in need of assistance to deal with problems created by the flooding, like removing furniture and cleaning up sewage. The Ontario Red Cross is now on the ground helping, but more bodies are needed, he said.
“We’re trying to work with different agencies to get people into those homes to help those residents,” he said.
St. Catharines mayor calling for more support
In his video, Siscoe charged that his city has been “left to fend for itself” in the aftermath of Sunday’s storm.
“The video I posted last night was born of a lot of frustration,” he said, adding the municipality continues to advocate to the provincial and federal governments for more ongoing and long-term support, for both relief, mitigation, and better infrastructure.
“I have had the opportunity to speak with the premier today and some provincial officials. I also have had the chance to speak to my local MP but we really are looking for a lot more from upper levels of government.”
“I am respectfully requesting at this time that the federal and provincial governments get together and find a way to provide some form of disaster relief assistance to the city of St. Catharines,” he said in the video.
The mayor later said they’re “burning through reserves.”
“We are spending whatever dollars we have, but there is a very finite limit when you’re a smaller city like ours to how many dollars we actually have to spend, and so we’re hopeful that upper levels will come and help us with this,” said Siscoe.
Doug Ford says province is helping
In a post on X, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the provincial government is “working closely with impacted municipalities (in Niagara Region) to provide support and assist with flood recovery.”
“I want to thank all of the first responders and staff at all levels of government who have been working tirelessly over the last few days to protect people and their property,” he wrote in the post, which also included a graphic outlining how Ontario is supporting flood recovery in that area.
Town of Lincoln also declares state of emergency
The nearby town of Lincoln has also declared a state of emergency due to what it describes as “historic flooding” over the past 24 hours.
“Our community has faced an extraordinary challenge,” Mayor Sandra Easton said in a news release.
“We have witnessed the devastating impacts of flooding on families, businesses, farms, and critical infrastructure. Declaring a State of Emergency ensures we are taking every available step to protect our community, coordinate our response, and advocate for the support Lincoln needs to recover.”
The town, which is home to about 26,000 people, said it made the declaration after “an extraordinary rainfall event that overwhelmed roads, stormwater infrastructure, homes, businesses, and municipal services,” a situation that was “further exacerbated by widespread power outage.”
Officials are asking for patience as they assess damage across the municipality, both to public infrastructure but also private property. They say they’ve received almost 300 calls from residents regarding flooding in the last 24 hours.
The town added that this declaration reflects the severity of the situation and strengthens its ability to “coordinate resources, implement emergency measures, and support requests for provincial assistance, while reinforcing the significance of the impacts on our community.”
“Recovery will take time, but the Town remains committed to advocating for every available resource to help our community rebuild,” it said.
GO trains delayed, some cancelled in region
GO trains travelling between St. Catharines and Niagara Falls may be delayed up to 30 minutes, officials say, due to the flooding.
Those servicing St. Catharines, however, have been cancelled and a bus shuttle is now in place.
“Customers at Niagara Falls GO intending for St. Catharines GO can board a bus at Niagara Falls Bus Terminal. Niagara bound customers intending for St. Catharines GO can board a bus at Confederation GO,” said officials, who are urging customers to check GO’s service updates page for real-time information.
