Water breaches walls of sandbags in Britannia

Residents of Britannia say high winds and waves are causing the river to crest walls of sandbags, leaving volunteers scrambling to build backup defences. 

About 200 volunteers showed up in the neighbourhood Saturday morning to help at one of four different sandbagging stations.

Nearly 100 volunteers worked at the Britannia Yacht Club, where the water had breached one wall of sandbags, according to Rob Braden.

"It's gone up at least six inches here this morning," he said. "The waves are the real problem, because they wash along the wall and up and over the wall, and then they wash out the sandbags."

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The water outside the yacht club building is now higher than the building's floor, Braden said, and there are pumps working inside to try to remove water.

Water levels in the area have risen about 25 centimetres in the last 48 hours and are currently near May 2017 levels, according to the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority. The Ottawa River Regulation Committee is projecting an additional rise of 40 centimetres until the river peaks on Tuesday.

The city's nearest community support centre is at the PineCrest Recreation Complex's Barbara Ann Scott Arena at 2250 Torquay Ave. It's open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Residents can access showers, food, electrical outlets and talk to Canadian Red Cross staff, emergency social services personnel and a public health nurse. 

Becca Carroll and Ian Waugh, who live near the water in Britannia, said their experience with the 2017 floods helped them to be more prepared this time around.  

"We've now got all the pumps we needed, we picked up a generator as well in case the power goes out," Waugh said. "It's a little less of a surprise this year."

Waugh said they're especially thankful for the large number of volunteers that have turned up to help. 

"It's amazing to see what a group of volunteers can do in a short period of time. You get enough people sandbagging and hauling bags and they can build a wall in about ten minutes."

Road to water plant in jeopardy

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces were setting up sandbags to protect the road that leads to the Britannia Water Purification Plant on Saturday. 

On Friday, city manager Steve Kanellakos said Cassells Street is the only way to get water treatment chemicals to and from the plant and that the city doesn't have the capacity to stockpile enough chemicals at the plant if the road is covered for multiple weeks.