1,700 households in Windsor, Ont., area damaged by flooding from rainstorm

WINDSOR, Ont. – Officials say more than 1,700 households in the southwestern Ontario communities of Windsor, Tecumseh and Lakeshore have been damaged due to a rainstorm that began Wednesday night.

Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara, who declared a state of emergency on Thursday, says 10 per cent of households in his town were affected by rain.

McNamara told a news conference Friday afternoon that all pumping equipment in town was working at capacity but the rain was too much to handle.

He said that no drainage system would be able to handle close to 200 millimetres of rain within 15 hours.

Windsor also declared a state of emergency on Thursday saying it needed to get access to support from higher levels of government.

The mayors of Windsor and Tecumseh are calling on residents with flooded basements to give the municipality a call or register online to get an accurate assessment of the damage.

McNamara told a joint news conference with officials from Windsor and Lakeshore that the communities “need help.”

“This rainstorm, if it was in London, Toronto, Winnipeg, they would have had the same results. Nobody can handle that amount of rainfall in such a short about of time,” he said.

“To safeguard a community against these types of rainfalls, sewers are not big enough,” McNamara said. “We would have to build tunnels and we are talking about hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Photographs from the area that were posted online have shown waterlogged basements and flooded roads.

Environment Canada has warned that intermittent showers, which can get heavy at times, are expected to continue in the area Friday night and over the weekend.

In a special weather statement, it said that while the rainfall has “diminished considerably” in strength, a few thunderstorms and showers continue.

It says 15 to 20 millimetres of rain is likely by Sunday evening.