St. Catharines Faces Emergency Following Severe Flooding

A state of emergency has been announced in St. Catharines, Ont., after the city experienced major flooding over the past week.

Mayor Mat Siscoe made the declaration on Monday after two storms dropped more than 140 millimetres of rain early last week and then again on Sunday.

“This wasn’t one isolated weather event; this was a series of three very extraordinary rainfall events that happened in our community,” Siscoe stated during a news conference on Tuesday.

The first storm struck the city on July 21, followed by another that drenched St. Catharines from July 27 to 28. The area saw a brief break before more rain came down on Sunday.

According to city officials, infrastructure such as roads, sewer systems, and stormwater management were overwhelmed.

This caused flooding that impacted homes, businesses, and city facilities. There was considerable property damage, including shoreline erosion affecting both private and public land.

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The city’s emergency operations centre has been up and running since last Tuesday morning when significant flooding began, working to coordinate response efforts and aid decision-making as recovery efforts continue.

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Crews are addressing urgent calls, assessing damages, and preparing for any additional rainfall expected later this week. They’re clearing catch basins and grates where debris has accumulated and removing obstacles from waterways to help ensure water flow is as efficient as possible.

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The mayor mentioned that declaring an emergency gives the city more resources to manage their response effectively and helps “strengthen” their ability to seek further support from provincial and federal governments.

In a video shared by the mayor on Instagram Sunday before announcing the emergency, Siscoe was seen walking through his own flooded basement. He said he posted it for provincial and federal officials, urging them for assistance.

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“No infrastructure can handle a hurricane’s worth of rain on Tuesday and then again on Sunday and our city is no different from the other cities in this country,” Siscoe said in the video.

Premier Doug Ford commented in a post on X Monday that the province is collaborating closely with affected municipalities in Niagara Region to provide flood recovery support. This includes deploying Ontario Corps partners for assistance with recovery efforts, coordinating cleaning kits through Salvation Army, and getting Team Rubicon involved for debris removal support.

The provincial team is also present in St. Catharines aiding with its recovery work, Ford added.

The storms that hit last week brought two to three times more rain than initially forecasted; by the time they hit again later in the week, Siscoe noted that the ground was already completely saturated.

“There was really no capacity left to absorb any of the additional rainfall,” he explained.

The mayor indicated that nearly 400 mm of rain fell across all three storms “depending on which part of the city you’re in.”

Siscoe pointed out that while there might be questions about blockages or maintenance issues contributing to flooding concerns, it really comes down to how much rain fell overall being the main problem.

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“The reality is that no municipal system in Canada is going to be designed to handle rainfall of this magnitude; it’s just not possible,” Siscoe stated.

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