“This is the summer of rain!” This seems to be the statement each year in Windsor-Essex County as record rainfalls and/or flood warnings have been consecutively set in the area for the last nine years. Seriously. Type in “Windsor flood” and a year and you’ll see an article about it. If you live in the following areas Windsor-Essex County, the time is now to take proactive action against basement flooding.
Downtown/South Windsor
Just this July, Downtown Windsor was hit especially hard. Both hospital campuses experienced flooding in key areas. Street flooding caused cars to be abandoned in little lakes. In 2020, South Windsor was demolished by rain, leaving roughly 400 home basements flooded. While the hospital is a bit of a different story, homeowners have a chance to prevent disaster. Those 400 homes could have been preserved with the use of a sump pump and other waterproofing services.
Tecumseh/Lakeshore
It is an annual event for Tecumseh and Lakeshore to receive a flood warning and huge amounts of rain. “They’re called flood plains for a reason”, said Pete Karageorgos, the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s director of consumer and industry relations for Ontario. Between 2016 and 2017 alone $300 million was paid out to the Windsor-Tecumseh area. That’s a lot of Tim Hortons coffees. Pete went on to point out that most of that money was for damaged basements.
Remember in 2016 when Tecumseh received 190 mm of rain in 24 hours? We sure do.
East Windsor/Riverside
The East Windsor and Riverside areas appear to be an especially strong case for flooding as a federal grant was given to the City of Windsor to conduct a flood risk assessment in the area worth over $18 million. The area of Riverside along the water has a 40-year-old dike system to protect from flooding, but studies have shown that its adequacy has decreased 58% in some parts. Would you want your basement to only be 42% effective at preventing flooding? A picture speaks a thousand words, so please turn your attention to the potential flood areas map made by Landmark Engineers and the City of Windsor. We don’t know about you, but we’re seeing a lot of blue.
Rainfall and flooding will continue to be an issue. 30 years ago, Canadian insurance companies were paying out about $400 million for catastrophic weather events, compared to the +$1 billion they have in the last ten years. As Pete said, “Water has become the new fire”. These aren’t the only areas at risk either. Rain warnings have been issued for Amherstburg, Belle River, LaSalle, McGregor, Maidstone, and Essex in the past. So, the next time someone asks, “Should I waterproof my basement?” Well, you tell us.