Officials say it is too soon to say when residents of a Brampton neighbourhood who were displaced by flooding on Thursday will be able to return home.
About 100 homes near Churchville Road and Steeles Avenue West had to be evacuated after broken up ice created a blockage along an elbow in the Credit River on Thursday afternoon, causing water to flow into the surrounding neighbourhood.
Brampton Fire Chief Bill Boyes told reporters on Friday that at one point the water surrounding the homes was about six feet deep in some places and that rescue boats had to go door-to-door to safely escort residents to safety.
The water began to recede overnight but still surrounds numerous area homes.
Boyes said that right now there is no timeline for residents to return to home, though crews will be using drone cameras today to try to get a sense of the “magnitude of flooding” and “determine next steps.”
“There was some really fast moving water as well some low lying areas that were flooded with some significant amounts of ice and water and buildup of debris. So this is a significant flood. This doesn't happen this often in this area,” he said. “We're just very happy that all residents are OK. We're , obviously concerned about their properties but we're going to work with our public works team and all the stakeholders, our utilities here, to make sure that people can eventually get back in safely to their homes.”
The City of Brampton issued a mandatory evacuation order for six areas in the Churchville neighbourhood, including Martins Boulevard, Church Street, Victoria Street, Adelaide Street, and select parts of Churchville Road and Creditview Road.
On Friday, crews were still unable to access many of the flooded homes. In the afternoon, officials reopened Creditview Road and Churchville Road (to bridge) while the other areas remain closed.
In the meantime, officials say they they are just thankful that everyone who lived in the neighbourhood was able to safely get out.
“I've never seen you know the chunks of ice that big in the water moving that fast and just the water rising, it was it was truly something I've never seen before in my life,” Regional Councillor Michael Palleschi told reporters on Friday morning.
“I was worried but when I came down here and saw the actions of fire and police, them already at the residence doors, pulling people out with ladders and trucks, people's luggage, pets. It was truly something.”
