A century old rainfall record has been broken for Guelph.
According to Environment Canada, 56.7 millimetres hit the Royal City Tuesday, breaking the July 16 record of 43.2 mm set in 1923.
With that significant rainfall, came basement floods across the city, and a flood of calls to restoration companies and the city.
The city received 15 calls related to Tuesday’s rain, and 26 staff members were assigned to storm mitigation efforts, said Terry Dooling, manager of public works.
Most calls were related to the municipal storm sewer system capacity, and resolved once the rain stopped.
“This would be more than the average day as we don’t normally receive calls for flooding if it’s not raining. All calls were for outdoor areas such as flood streets and trails,” he said.
Typical flooding locations include Exhibition Street and Division Street, Lowes Road and Gordon Street, as well as Empire Street, all of which staff were dispatched to to prevent flooding.
“In these cases staff are deployed proactively to prevent or reduce flooding,” he said. “The storm sewer system is designed and built to handle events such as we experienced yesterday. Occasionally the capacity of the system is challenged briefly during intense events but overall it functions as designed."
"Got at least over two months worth of claims in basically a day, day and a half," added Doug Winer, who works in marketing with SERVPRO. "(It's) keeping us busy."
WINMAR Property Restoration Specialists received 30 claims for flooded basement Tuesday.
For comparison, the company usually deals with four claims a day.
Estimator Nathan Woodland spent his afternoon and this morning at a commercial property in Downtown Guelph that received between four to five inches of water in the basement.
“There was another one (that) one of our estimators looked at yesterday where it actually came in right through the front doors,” he said. “I think there was probably a couple feet of water in the basement.”
He expects the phone lines for insurance companies are probably backed up between the local claims, and claims in other cities like Toronto.
Woodland anticipates more calls and claims to come in over the next few days and will stay busy throughout.
“When we get like this, we’re putting in 16 hour days, typically because we’ve got reporting obligations,” Woodland said.
“We wake up and try and make sure everyone is serviced accordingly."
Woodland said having a battery backup for your sump pump is a good idea, as well as having a secondary pump.
Other tips include purchasing moisture detectors, which sends alerts to your smartphone whenever it touches water, having a generator if you have a sump pump for extended power outages and doing general maintenance like checking your foundation for cracks and looking at your landscaping for proper drainage.
Woodland adds if you need to get into your basement during a flood, protect yourself.
He said there is always potential for contamination in water during floods, so wear personal protective equipment like gloves and safety glasses, N95 masks and rubber boots if the flood isn’t being handled by a professional.
“(Make) sure you clean and disinfect, apply disinfectant to anything that you might be saving from down there,” he said, adding to be aware of any electrical hazards, especially if water has gone above outlets.
One other tip: your drywall may look safe following a flood and running a dehumidifier, but water can seep into the wall.
“Is your flooring wet, is your insulation wet?” he said. “Try not to take a chance with that kind of stuff because (you risk) the chance of mould or rot, secondary damage is forming.”
Several other restoration companies in Guelph were too busy to talk.
The storm also impacted the Guelph YMCA-YWCA on Woodland Glen Drive, where the main gym floor was flooded.
"Our teams responded quickly to ensure the safety of our members and participants and to minimize disruptions," Mike Ennis, the CEO of YMCA of Three Rivers, said in an emailed statement.
"We have high service standards for our members and participants, and we are grateful for their patience while we restore after the storm."
The 56.7 mm that fell Tuesday puts Guelph at 145.5 mm of rain for the month of July.
Most of it has come down in the last week, including the 59 mm that fell last Wednesday.
Coulson said the long-term average amount of rainfall for the month of July is 96 mm, with the all-time July rainfall record in Guelph is 223.8 mm from 1927.
Can Guelph break that record in 2024?
“A little early to say because all it would take is us getting another day or two similar to what we had (yesterday), said Environment Canada’s Geoff Coulson.
“This time of year, showers and thunderstorms can be highly localized. One area can get almost no precipitation, another area 15 kilometres away can get huge amounts.
“We’ve still got half the month to go, so this is certainly a number that we’ll be keeping an eye on, not only for Guelph, but in surrounding areas as well.”
The rest of the work week looks rather dry in comparison, he added, with cooler conditions on the horizon.
