Worst of heavy rain over for flood-hit Windsor and Tecumseh, Ont.
Joe Pavia, Aadel Haleem | CBC News | Posted: October 2, 2016 5:12 PM | Last Updated: October 3, 2016
Windsor plans special garbage pickup for water-damaged contents
A bit more rain has to fall tonight before the clouds part, as residents of Windsor, Ont., and the surrounding area continue to clean up from last week's flooding.
Rainfall amounts overnight were minimal, with nearby Belle River catching 1.8 mm of rain in the last 12 hours, while Windsor felt only 0.2 mm of rain in that time.
For most of the coming week, the sun will shine. No weather statements are in the forecast for the first time in days as residents spent Sunday cleaning and drying what they could save.
Onorio Colucci, Windsor's chief administrative officer, said that his city received nearly 2,000 calls from residents reporting flooded basements, and Tecumseh got about the same. He says many people have insurance, but those who don't may be left paying for repairs out of pocket.
But he says if provincial officials label the communities a "disaster zone", they may be eligible for provincial grants.
Colucci also says the city is working on mobilizing teams of volunteers to help people clean out their wrecked basements.
On Monday, local Mayors will meet with Minister of Municipal Affairs Bill Mauro and tour flood-damaged areas around Windsor, Tecumseh and Lakeshore.
Special garbage collection
City of Windsor officials are in the process of organizing a special garbage collection for flood-damaged materials next week. Details of that plan are expected to be ready by Monday.
Windsor's 311 Call Centre has been inundated with calls since Thursday and was open for four hours on Saturday to take calls from residents about their flooded basements.
Homeowners with flood insurance have been reminded to contact their insurance companies before they remove any valuables from their home.
Homeowner opted out of flood insurance
Fans are drying out the damp basement of Mike Desrosier and his family's home, which they bought two months ago.
Desrosier tells CBC he and his wife opted out of the insurance because it was too expensive for their return on investment.
"My insurance company offered us the insurance but what they wanted for the yearly premium compared to what they were going to pay out, a maximum of $5,000, it just didn't make sense to me as a new home owner," he says.
The recently purchased laminate flooring and drywall sits in a pile outside their home, ready to be taken to the landfill site. Desrosier says they were able to save a lot of the contents of his children's play room, but a new furniture purchase for the re-do was damaged because the basement was completely underwater.
'Part of my life is going in the garbage'
Tecumseh resident Caroline Jumel took CBC on a video tour of the damage caused to her home by flooding, including what she describes as 10 years of Ph.D. research that is now a pile of wet papers.
She says most of the contents of the home must be thrown out. "It's a part of my life that's going to the garbage," Jumel said.
"I don't know how much money it's going to cost. but it sounds like the cleaning is basically taking two-thirds of what I get for insurance."
Beware of contractors
Jumel says she is still waiting for an estimate on what the repairs and cleaning will be on her home. Initially she was given a verbal quote and told repairs will cost $13,000, but a secondary verbal estimate she received came in at $8,000.
"I don't know where I stand, so I'm waiting for them to tell me. For now I'm in limbo and don't know how much it's going to be," she said.
The severe flooding in Windsor has brought with it a warning from the Better Business Bureau of Western Ontario to beware of contractors soliciting business.
The BBB suggests, among other things, that homeowners do their research, get several estimates and check licensing and credentials.
Memorabilia damaged by water
Sports fan Gary Laporte of Tecumseh is drying out his water-damaged CFL and Detroit Tigers memorabilia.
His basement, which served as a storage space for his sports and family memories, was submerged in two feet of water.
Laporte and his wife have been without running water in their home since Thursday and were told no one can come to repair it until this Tuesday.
"My wife went to the laundromat to do some laundry. For any cooking or dishes we've been boiling water on the stove. And I've gone to my son's house to take showers," he said..