Although rainfall over the southwestern Ontario region has lightened up, the damage caused by last week’s downpour continues to bog down homeowners.
Record-breaking rains drenched the Windsor and Tecumseh areas from Wednesday evening. According to Environment Canada, as much as 135 millimeters of rain fell over Windsor and 195 millimeters over Tecumseh—that is well over a month’s worth of rain for the former city, and two months’ worth for the latter.
During a news briefing Friday, Tecumseh mayor Gary McNamara said that at its worst, the storm poured over 30 millimeters of rain per hour on the city.
“There is no storm system, not only in our community but anywhere, that can sustain that type of impact in such a short period of time,” McNamara remarked. “The system did not fail. It was working at maximum capacity all night.”
In a similar briefing, Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens reasoned why he had to declare a state of emergency for the city, explaining that many residents no longer have insurance coverage due to regular flooding in the region.
“I have to allow these residents some relief in the best way I can do it,” Dilkens said.
According to
CBC News, both cities received nearly 2,000 calls from residents reporting flooded basements.
On Friday, the
Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) announced that it would deploy staff to the Windsor-Tecumseh region to help residents affected with their insurance concerns.
“IBC will continue to monitor the situation in Windsor,” said IBC vice president for Ontario Kim Donaldson in a release. “Flooding can cause extensive damage to homes and businesses. It’s important that Canadians understand their insurance policies and put an emergency preparedness plan in place before bad weather strikes.”
Despite the insurance industry’s willingness to help those affected, both “insured” and uninsured homeowners have reported issues.
Several insured homeowners were shocked to learn that their houses were not covered by their insurers.
“It’s shocking. You make sure you make those payments every single month and you pay diligently, knowing you have this protection,” Don Jamieson, Windsor resident, told
CBC News. “Then when you go to apply for the protection...you find out you don’t have it.”
Jamieson and other homeowners like him may have confused flood insurance with sewer backup coverage, explained Anne Marie Thomas of insurancehotline.com.
Other policyholders were unhappy with the way their insurance providers have dealt with flooding claims.
“[My insurer] told me I get $5,000,” Joe Furlan of Tecumseh told
Windsor Star. “That isn’t going to cover anything. It was $10,000 before and now, suddenly, they say Tecumseh gets too many floods.”
Thomas noted that due to the recent epidemic of natural disasters in Canada, insurers are looking for new ways to limit the amounts they pay. Low lying areas with aging infrastructure, for instance, often see limited to no coverage for flood insurance, she said. Communities with mature trees whose roots can damage draining systems can also be hit with the same limits.
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