Floodwaters that led to houses being evacuated in a Brampton community Thursday are receding, officials say, though many residents remain out of their homes.
“It’s been a tough 24 hours for the City of Brampton and we have over a hundred houses here that are devastated, families devastated,” Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said Friday afternoon.
“This is an historic part of the City of Brampton and to have flooding like this that is unpredictable can have enormous consequences…. The good news is the water is receding.”
The flooding occurred in the Churchville Road and Steeles Avenue West area, near the Credit River.
Officials said that at the peak, floodwaters were around five or six feet deep in some areas. Brown said floodwaters were down to one foot deep in areas outside of the flood plain Friday afternoon.
Around 50 homes remained evacuated, down from around 100 on Thursday.
Brown said he spoke with Premier Doug Ford and his chief of staff Friday morning, who offered assistance.
Brown noted that there is a provincial program for disaster relief.
“We’re going to need their help,” he said.
He added that the local MPP “immediately” reached out to see how the province could assist.
No injuries were reported either among either residents or first responders.
“We’ve been able to deal with a very difficult situation in a safe manner,” Brown said.
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Brampton Fire Chief Bill Boyes said six homes remained without power or gas.
He said “a number” of homes have water damage out of the approximately 100 initially impacted.
Earlier Friday, Boyes said about half of the 50 homes still evacuated were impacted by water damage.
“At the peak last night it was about six feet deep in some areas,” Boyes told reporters.
“And there was some really fast-moving water as well as some low-lying areas that were flooded with some significant amounts of ice and water and buildup of debris.
“This is a significant flood. This doesn’t happen this often in this area.”
Boyes said the water rescue team and Peel Regional Police went door to door to check on every resident and help residents evacuate their homes with their most essential belongings and pets.
Michael Parks, the director for Brampton roads and maintenance operations, said the cause for the major flooding was ice breakup from the excessive rain on Thursday.
Parks said the water flow brought the large chunks of ice to a particular “elbow” in the Credit River and then the ice backed up and flooded the community.
He added that drone footage would give crews a better idea if heavy machinery will be required to remove some of the buildup.
City Coun. Michael Palleschi said he spoke to one young family that just moved in who were severely affected and are battling with their insurance company.
“There was devastation,” Palleschi said, adding that he travelled from the north to south end of the Credit River.
“I’ve never seen the chunks of ice that big.”
One family told Global News they never expected “river front property” and local residents are calling on the City to do more when it comes to flooding.
Parks said the area is prone to floods and not much can be done in terms of remediation. However, he said some measures have been put in place as part of development as the city grows.
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