‘This is insanity’: Etobicoke residents plead for help following flooding

After a Saturday storm dropped a record amount of precipitation on many parts of the GTHA, Etobicoke residents are pleading for help after a third major flood has left them with another disastrous cleanup.

Theresa Lauria has lived in Etobicoke for more than thirty years. She says she just had a new furnace installed two weeks ago after the previous flood and will have to replace it again.

“Yesterday, when it was raining, I was having anxiety attacks because I knew I was going to flood again,” Lauria tells CityNews. “My nephew was over, he went to look, and there we go I’m flooding again.”

“The flood last month there were a few things salvaged, this flood everything is gone. My whole basement had four inches of water, and everything down there is gone.”

Thereas’s next-door neighbours, Glen and Deidre Reys, are dealing with the same sense of loss.

“All our children’s memories are gone. I had my daughter’s dollhouses, Polly Pockets, you know little things you keep to remember the children. My son’s little toys… this flood everything went,” said Deidre.

The Reys say they followed the city’s recommendations when dealing with their first flood more than 10 years ago.

Glen Reys adds that they followed the city’s recommendation and installed preventative measures, but they haven’t made much of a difference.

“In 2013 they told us to fix it by putting a sewer back up, put a sump pump, so I’ve done all that, I’ve done my full waterproofing as well of the full house. Whatever the city told us to do, we did, and we still have a problem.”

Residents believe there is an issue with the sewage and plumbing system and that nearby construction of the LRT could also be to blame.

“We know that there’s been a basement flooding study done in our neighbourhood in 2019, and it has been completed, so we’re just wondering why nothing has been done to improve our infrastructure here because this is insanity, having to deal with a flood once a month, or living in fear every time it rains,” said Cassandra Jackson.

Residents have started a petition and are collecting signatures throughout the whole neighbourhood. Their next plan is to bring it to city officials and the Mayor’s office.

“Everyone here has signed, and we’re going to go around and knock on some more doors later this afternoon …get the footwork in. It’s not just our street it’s every street in this neighbourhood that’s getting affected,” said Jackson.

This article has been corrected to show that the community affected and mentioned in this report is in Etobicoke and not Mississauga.