Flood damage assessment underway in Warwick

The damage still was being assessed Friday in Warwick after Wednesday thunderstorms flooded roads and bases in the east Lambton municipality, prompting an emergency declaration.

“We’re just in the midst of trying to put a price tag on the damage done,” said Mayor Todd Case.

“Almost everybody in the community was affected some way or somehow by this weather event,” he said.

“Whether it was their own houses with water backups, or with roads that couldn’t be crossed … the damage is across the whole of our community.”

Up to 180 mm of rainfall was measured during the course of about five hours late Wednesday, closing multiple roads including a section of Highway 402, Case said.

“There’s no system in Canada that would withstand that kind of rainfall in that short a period of time,” he said.

Communication with federal and provincial authorities has been good since the emergency declaration Thursday, to seek funding to help deal with the fallout, he said.

Every gravel road in the municipality was damaged, township officials said in a Friday news release, noting assessments and remediation work had begun.

‘”We’ve called in some professional engineers and geotechnical experts to assess a few structures,” township chief administrator Amanda Gubbels said.

Several roads remained closed Friday, and all but Zion Line are expected to reopen by Saturday, township officials said.

Pavement leading up to a bridge on Zion Line over Bear Creek was shifted by flood waters during Wednesday’s storm, said fire chief Brad Goodhill.

“It literally picked the whole surface up and shifted the road,” he said, also pointing to a low-lying field of two-metre-tall corn stalks he said was fully submerged by the flood waters.

Zion Line’s repair “is going to be a major one,” he said, noting part of the road was repaved earlier this summer, before the water damage.

Repair work on all roads is expected to take weeks, township officials said, asking people to drive slowly and cautiously, being mindful of workers.

Twin Creeks Landfill is holding extended hours Saturday from 7 am to 1 pm so residents can drop off damaged items and construction waste free of charge.

Waste bins for smaller items will be on the north side of the East Lambton community complex, and at the rear of the Warwick community center off Elizabeth Street until Monday, also free of charge, officials said.

The big challenge now for residents will be booking restoration companies, Case said, noting nearby Brooke-Alvinston, Southwest Middlesex and Lambton Shores also experienced flooding.

“So, there’s lots of damage that has to be dealt with in people’s homes, and all these companies are trying to get around and get the job done as best they can,” he said. “But, let’s be hones, there’s so much that happened, these companies are stretched thin.”

The municipality was spared from any more heavy rain Thursday amid the possibility for severe thunderstorms, he said.

“It could have been a major situation for us if we had gotten hit with another 50 mm of rain (Thursday) night.”

Rainfall Wednesday and Thursday around the watershed ranged between 60 and 150 mm, St. Clair Region Conservation Authority officials said in a Friday bulletin.

“Water levels continue to remain high, resulting in over-bank flooding into floodplain areas,” it says.

Emergency officials Thursday were evacuating campers from the Warwick Conservation Area due to flooding, Case said, noting many neighboring municipalities had offered aid.

“We really do appreciate that,” he said. “We’ll be communicating with them as this situation continues to unfold.”

Lambton public health, meanwhile, encouraged residents with private wells to test their water supply where flooding occurred, noting flood waters can carry harmful bacteria.

Boil water or use bottled water until testing occurs, a release said.

Water sample kits can be picked up and dropped off at public health’s Point Edward office, the Bluewater Health Charlotte Eleanor Englehart lab in Petrolia, or at London’s public health lab at 1200 Commissioners Rd. E.

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