A weekend filled with severe weather in the Windsor region has left the southwestern Ontario city struggling to recover from the aftermath.
It all began with fallen trees and heavy rains during a storm on Friday night – one that forced a festival in nearby Essex County to shut down and resulted in injuries for four individuals.
Then Sunday brought more heavy rain throughout various parts of the day.
Some areas of Windsor recorded about 100 millimeters of rainfall, according to the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA).
“These summer storms can develop quickly and often affect specific locations,” said Tian Martin, ERCA’s water resources engineer. “That’s why we didn’t have much advance notice since they appear rather suddenly.”
The neighborhoods hit hardest were those in east and south Windsor.
Windsor’s chief city engineer mentioned that Sunday’s rain was significantly heavier than anticipated.
“We’ve received a high volume of 311 calls coming in mainly today,” David Simpson told Monday.
“We’re definitely talking hundreds of calls. I know there were several reported flooding spots in south Windsor, particularly around Remington [Park], Devonshire Heights, Fontainebleau areas, and others.”
A person’s feet are covered in water inside the flooded aviation museum in Windsor, Ont., July 6, 2026. (Submitted by John Robinson)
Simpson noted that those areas are experiencing considerable ponding and standing water, and their pumping system was essentially at full capacity as of noon Monday. He explained this is due to both the low elevation of those regions and sometimes older infrastructure.
“Historically, the Riverside area has always faced challenges during heavy rain events too,” he said.
“I know there are very high flows in that area right now; our system seems capable of handling it at this moment.”
According to Simpson, many calls were also made regarding trees downed during Friday night’s storm.
John Robinson realized there was a problem when he stepped outside the Windsor Canadian Aviation Museum on Sunday and noticed significant water accumulation in the parking lot.
“I looked out toward the taxiway and ramp, and there was a large lake of water there,” said the museum’s president while speaking to .
Robinson shared that because of this flooding issue, they would have to postpone reopening until Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
“I’ve never seen it this bad,” he stated.
“This system just seemed to sit right over the airport. It might have affected other spots in town too but it felt like it just lingered here. The rain was constant.”
The weekend storms also left thousands without power amidst rising temperatures.
At its worst after Friday’s storm hit, roughly 11,000 out of Enwin Utilities’ 92,000 customers lost electricity around 6:30 p. m.
The president Jim Brown mentioned that crews managed to reduce this number quickly down to about 3,000; however Sunday’s storms hindered restoration efforts over the weekend.
“Some customers experienced outages for quite some time,” he noted.
“We truly appreciate their patience because losing electricity can be really inconvenient for everyone.”
Brown added that Friday’s initial storm impacted a wide area across town.
“Basically older sections suffered most damage. Those neighborhoods were developed years ago with rear yard servicing from alleys; anything underground remained mostly intact. But those rear yards with mature trees took quite a hit.”
This makes things difficult for crews since access is tricky.
You need clear paths before tackling electrical issues; removing trees from lines is essential first.”
Ponds formed on roadways along with private properties along low-lying areas according to town officials who continue working hard cleaning debris from roads.
They’re encouraging residents who’ve had basement flooding incidents fill out an online survey.
The town plans regular garbage collection will include taking away debris as well; they’ll accept waste bags come Thursday along with normal hard-sided containers only.
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Rain Delays Reopening of Aviation Museum
“When I opened the door, I immediately turned on the lights and.. there was at least two inches of water across the entire … hangar floor – it even reached our east side offices.” While none of the planes inside suffered damage, he indicated that dealing with all this rain entering their hangar built back in 1939 will require extensive cleanup efforts. “This is water that actually pooled around properties near the museum before making its way into our hangar.. through drains as well as through doors including our main hangar door and some loading doors on the north side,” he explained.
Robinson shared that because of this flooding issue, they would have to postpone reopening until Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
“I’ve never seen it this bad,” he stated.
“This system just seemed to sit right over the airport. It might have affected other spots in town too but it felt like it just lingered here. The rain was constant.”
The weekend storms also left thousands without power amidst rising temperatures.
At its worst after Friday’s storm hit, roughly 11,000 out of Enwin Utilities’ 92,000 customers lost electricity around 6:30 p. m.
The president Jim Brown mentioned that crews managed to reduce this number quickly down to about 3,000; however Sunday’s storms hindered restoration efforts over the weekend.
“Some customers experienced outages for quite some time,” he noted.
“We truly appreciate their patience because losing electricity can be really inconvenient for everyone.”
Brown added that Friday’s initial storm impacted a wide area across town.
“Basically older sections suffered most damage. Those neighborhoods were developed years ago with rear yard servicing from alleys; anything underground remained mostly intact. But those rear yards with mature trees took quite a hit.”
This makes things difficult for crews since access is tricky.
You need clear paths before tackling electrical issues; removing trees from lines is essential first.”
Ponds formed on roadways along with private properties along low-lying areas according to town officials who continue working hard cleaning debris from roads.
They’re encouraging residents who’ve had basement flooding incidents fill out an online survey.
The town plans regular garbage collection will include taking away debris as well; they’ll accept waste bags come Thursday along with normal hard-sided containers only.Source link
