HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-04-10, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2008. PAGE 7.
Washed out
Above, left and bottom right: On Belgrave Road, things got a little dangerous when the
excessive water flowing alongside the road made things difficult for drivers travelling in the
westbound lane. The lane was quickly barricaded off, but it was not the only problem road
crews were dealing with last week. Barry O’Krafka, public works manager for Morris-Turnberry
said he and his crew had to deal with between 10 and 12 storm water issues on its roads last
week;Top right: This Belgrave property definitely had a waterfront view due to the warmth and
heavy rains the area received. Just west of this area on Belgrave Road, flooding had gotten
so bad that part of the road had to be closed due to unsafe driving conditions. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Roads closed in Huron East
Continued from page 1
from debris and there was definitely a
flooding issue that put a bit of a strain
on the system, definitely took it up to
the maximum,” Mills said.
“We had a few roads closed and
some people’s basements were
flooded, simply because of the huge
run-off. I really don’t think it was
isolated to any one of our areas either.
I believe it was county-wide.”
In North Huron, on Belgrave Road,
excessive flooding next to the road
caused some erosion under the road,
and a section had to be barricaded.
While North Huron had to deal with
some road closures, one in East
Wawanosh and one in Wingham, the
larger issue was overflowing on its
storm water management systems.
“We experienced very high flows in
our storm water management systems,
as well as our sanitary sewer system.
The sewer systems in both Blyth and
Wingham were at capacity, sometimes
over capacity,” said North Huron
clerk-administrator Kriss Snell.
“Our water department worked a
tremendous amount of hours to
monitor the system and respond to any
back-ups. There was some flooding in
basements, but we didn’t have too
many, and even then, most of it was
surface water.”
In addition to flooding and water
levels that were over capacity, Snell
said there were some sanitation
problems due to the excessive amount
of water the system was seeing.
“We did see some bypassing,” Snell
said. “This is when some waste water
doesn’t receive all the treatment that it
would receive under normal
conditions.”
Snell says that when a storm like the
one on April 1 comes along, you
realize how dangerous illegal drainage
hook-ups can be. He said that sump-
pumps used illegally in North
Huron really made the situation
more dangerous for all of the
municipality.
“When people have sump-pumps
connected to the sanitary system, it
causes us a lot of problems,” he said.
“One message we’re trying to get
across is for people to please
disconnect their sump-pumps and roof
drains from the sanitary systems,
because it is essentially an illegal
fixture under the Ontario Building
Code.”
With sump-pumps causing more
flow into the sanitary system on a day
like April 1, Snell said North Huron
was in great danger of backing up the
system, then backing up the trunk
mains, causing back-ups into people’s
houses.
“With all of the new regulations,
especially the environmental ones, this
is something we can’t deal with any
longer,” he said.
Looking for local heroes
There are so many people out there who do
so much to improve their community.
Now you have a chance to say thanks.
Nominate that special person for the 23rd
Annual Citizen Citizenship Awards.
Each year a committee chooses an outstanding citizen from each of the Blyth and area
and Brussels and area communities to receive an award for contribution to the
community. If you know someone you think should be honoured, please fill in the ballot
and send it in. You may attach a longer explanation of why you think your nominee
should win, if you like. If you have nominated someone before and he or she didn't win,
please feel free to try again.
I nominate
as Citizen of the year for
I feel she/he deserves this award because
Nomination Deadline April 30, 2008.
Name and phone number of nominator
❑❑Blyth
& area ❑❑Brussels
& area