Cape Breton Regional Municipality issued a warning last night, urging citizens to avoid coming into contact with flood water. The city said that some of the water has been contaminated with sewage and oil from overturned tanks.
Flood water in the Cottage Road and Cabot Street areas should be avoided in particular, officials said.
“This is a very significant flood for us,” Cape Breton director of engineering and public works Wayne MacDonald told
CBC News, “certainly one of the worst in many years.”
Environment Canada estimated that over 220 millimeters of rain poured over the Sydney area on Monday. The rain was the result of the remnants of Hurricane Matthew meeting up with a system off the coast of the Carolinas.
Many homeowners have complained of flooded basements, with city officials powerless to do anything until the rain subsides.
“All our systems right now are all completely flooded — all our storm sewers and our sanitary sewers are all surcharged,” said John Phalen, a public works manager with the municipality. “Until the rain stops, there is absolutely nothing we can do about people with flooded basements.”
Sydney Fire Department platoon chief Charlie Long said that firefighters will check homes to ensure that affected electrical outlets are shut off, but noted that firefighters do not have the pumps necessary to help homeowners drain their basements.
Sydney homeowner Linda Bryden told
CBC News how severe the flooding in her basement is.
“Right now, the water is heading to about a foot deep. It is up over the bottom staircase that leads down to the basement,” she said.
According to Bryden, the pump in her basement became overwhelmed. Her neighbor loaned her his pump, but then his basement too was getting flooded in, so he took his pump back. She tried calling the municipality for help, but they too did not have any pumps for use.
To add insult to injury, Bryden said that she will not be able to file an insurance claim for her basement flooding because of her high premiums.
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