The Town of Tecumseh and the surrounding areas experienced a significant weather event on Friday July 16, 2021, with parts of the Town experiencing up to 90mm of rain over a 27-hour period.  Approximately 71mm fell over a six-hour period from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. which resulted in surface ponding in low lying areas, roadways and private properties at various locations throughout the Town.  At the peak of the storm it registered just shy of a 1:50 Year Storm Event.

All storm and sanitary pumps and pumping stations were operating as intended with staff members from Public Works and the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) being on-site ensuring pumps were working. 

SURVEY

The Town received over 150 calls and emails regarding the rain event to date and we look to gather further information from those property owners who may have experienced basement flooding by asking them to complete a survey found at this link.

“This was a significant rainfall event with high volumes that fell in a short period of time,” said Gary McNamara, Mayor. “Storm systems are normally designed to accommodate a 1:2 or a 1:5-year storm event, depending on the infrastructure. Once the rainfall event has exceeded the system design it is anticipated to experience road and parking lot flooding until such time that the drains, sewers and pump stations can catch up.” 

The Town has arranged for temporary changes to the normal Waste Collection by means of:

(i)   Scheduling a special flood debris pick-up for Monday July 19, 2021 for those residences impacted by the rain event; and 

(ii)  Temporary changes to the Town’s Waste Collection to accept bags of waste in addition to the hard-sided containers on the regularly scheduled collection date of Thursday July 22, 2021.

“We have heard from a number of residents requesting assistance from the Town with the disposal of flood debris,” said Gary McNamara, Mayor of Tecumseh. “We reached out to Green For Life (GFL) and scheduled the additional service that will help alleviate some of the impact on residents during this time.”

The Town is requesting that any flood debris be placed in hard sided containers or garbage bags if possible to assist with its safe collection and handing.  The bags must be tied at the top, be less than 50 pounds (27 kilograms), be placed next to the hard sided container not on top, and not contain sharp objects, paint batteries or other hazardous waste. Existing hard sided containers must meet weight restrictions as outlined in the Town’s Collection Calendar.  GFL will not collect containers that are outside the size/weight limits as directed.