Brampton residents face massive clean up after Churchville flood

Brampton residents can finally return home after being displaced by rising flood waters for nearly a week.

Warm weather and rain caused flooding across the city, especially in Brampton’s historic Churchville area where some 100 homes were evacuated as a precaution on Thursday (Feb. 17).

The rising waters reached up to about six feet deep in some areas, and while there were no injuries reported due to the flood many homes were damaged in the flood.

Brampton Fire Chief Bill Boyes said it’s too early to put a dollar figure on the damage caused by the flood, but said around 50 homes were impacted.

Coun. Jeff Bowman said crews have been on scene everyday since the flooding started and Brampton Emergency Management Office “has assessed the area and determined it is no longer an emergency scene.”

“Residents have been notified and everyone who has been displaced is now able to return to their home,” Bowman said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Bowman said warmer weather and rain on Tuesday led to “water slightly increasing” in the Credit River but the water has not risen in the area around the homes. He said crews and pumps will remain on scene to clear ice and water to maintain the water levels outside the river.

With clean up and mitigation efforts underway, Bowman said there will be restoration and reforestation required due to the floods and the Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) will be working with the city’s forestry department to ensure that work happens as quickly as possible.

The city and Global Medic made flood kits available to residents, and Bowman said the kits and supplies will help residents with what he called a “massive clean-up” effort.

Mike Parks with Brampton Public Works said staff are analysing what led to the Churchville flood and said the city is working with the CVC to come up with potential mitigating options to prevent further flooding incidents.

“We’ve got a lot of ideas right now, but really we need to sit down and go through that engineering process to determine what might work and what might be helpful,” Parks said.

Displaced residents can call 3-1-1 for information or to access emergency services, and home owners will need to contact the Electrical Safety Authority to authorise the safe return of power to any impacted property.

Residents will then need to contact utilities providers:

Enbridge Gas: 1-866-763-5427
Alectra: 1-833-ALECTRA (2872)

The city says Enbridge Gas representatives will go door-to-door to enter homes and businesses once it is safe to do so in order to restore gas service and relight natural gas appliances.

Residents are being advised not to attempt to relight your own appliances as appliances that were submerged in water may not function safely and require an inspection.

Officials are asking residents to stay away from standing water and downed power lines as water may be electrically charged by indoor electrical systems and underground or downed power lines.

Floodwaters can also contain sewage and chemicals, as well as dangerous debris.

Do not drive or walk through floodwaters, and the walkways and roadways beneath may have weakened and become unsafe.

For insurance-related questions, residents should contact their insurance provider or the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s Consumer Information Centre (CIC) at 1-844-227-5422 or by emailing [email protected].