City of London responds to flooding amid record rains – London | The Canadian News

After heavy rains in London and Middlesex County, the city and residents are responding to flooding throughout the community on Thursday.

Environment Canada reports that 120mm of rain was recorded at London International Airport from Tuesday through Thursday morning.

“On Wednesday we got 67mm and that broke the old record of 54.2mm set in 1996,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Gerald Cheng.

Cheng said people should still expect some rain for the next few days, but “the big rains are behind us” as the area ends the rest of the month.

Cheng reports that the area has seen around 157.6mm of rain this September, compared to normal rainfall of around 103mm.

The heavy rains also created problems across the city of London when it came to flooding.

“We have registered about 130 basement flood complaints so far. Typically we would see around 30 in a month so we are looking at about four months of basement flood complaints in one night, ”said Ashley Rammeloo, City of London Sewer Engineering Division Manager.

Rammeloo is encouraging people to report flooding to the city so they can track trends and ensure residents have access to resources like those in the city. Basement Flood Grant Program.

The Basement Flood Grant Program gives homeowners money to install sump pumps in some situations to decrease the risk of basement flooding.

Rammeloo said surface water appears to be receding, but it’s hard to say when levels will return to normal.

Seth Meeker, who rents a house in North London near Maitland and Grosvenor streets, said that due to the rain, he and his roommate were ankle deep in water trying to clean their basement.

Meeker said this is the first time in years that they have had problems with flooding, but the heavy rain made them work to soak up the water throughout the night.

“Over the course of three or four hours, it started to get really bad and all over the basement,” Meeker said.

He said they have a sump pump, but the rain was too much for him to bear.

Meanwhile, Western University reported Thursday that flooding continued to affect Medway, Chemistry and Talbot parking lots and that cars in those areas needed to be removed.

The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) reports that much of the North Thames river basin and the South Thames received large amounts of rain, causing water levels to rise.

Ditches, creeks and creeks increased Wednesday, with the conservation authority reporting that many banks are at capacity or overflowing.

Many low-lying areas and parks are flooding, such as St. Marys Flats, as well as Harris and Gibbons parks in London.

The UTRCA flood control reservoirs at Fanshawe in London, Wildwood in St. Marys and Pittock in the Woodstock conservation areas are in operation to reduce downstream flooding.

The conservation authority reminds the public to use extreme caution and stay away from all waterways, as well as avoid driving through flooded roads or walking into flooded areas.