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18 bs 5 Continued from page 3 her Saville Crescent home = Ls] 5 z Sg g e 8 ES 5 > "There were five days of Oakville Beaver | Thursday, June 15, 2023 | couldn't if ‘figure out where it came Smiths said the amount of water was fairly small ie and her husband cleaned it up after check- ig their pipes and looking behind some drywall. tein incident resulted i in ge and was ulti- tae dismissed as a fluke, possibly caused by condensation. Smith said she didn't ex- perience any other issues until February 2022, when a warm spell resulted in melting snow combined with heavy rain. "I just happened to go stepped into the unfinished portion of the basement I stepped into water and it was significant," said Smith."When I looked over to my drain, the drain that goes into sanitary, wa- ter was coming up likea lit- tle volcai Smith said she called a plumber who ran a camera into the inage system and told her the problem was not on her property, Always Here to Help You! / Patient Counselling ¥ Complete Diabetic Care ¥ Home Visits ¥ Consultations / Free RX Delivery insidehalton.com "There really needs to he a more urgent push and more ownership of this problem.” - Mary Smith but somewhere in the tenon belonging ‘to the re with. this information, Smith said she reached out to Halton Region, which is responsible for Halton's wastewater system, and was given an ex gratia grant for public sewer backup of $1,000. The grant is intended to either olfset the cost of an insural luctible or help with flooding-related costs that are not other- wise covered undera home insurance policy. smith said the grant did not even cover her insur- ance deductible, as damage to her basement totalled around $10,000 She said region staff al- so visited her home and suggested improvements to the basement drain and the hom might help t the si ciation Smith said she complet- ed these improvements but Rear @ 7 DERANGO PHARMACY INC. / Free Nutrition Mary Smith photo. Water bubbles up from the basement drain of Mary Smith's home during a February 2022 flooding incident. ‘was warned by an engineer that the problem would not go away until the region's 's stormwater infrastructure were upgraded. Around this time, Smith said she began talking to her neighbours and learned that the same day her basement flooded, the basements of at least four other people in her area al- so flooded. Significant flooding oc- curred again, not just for Smith, but ceveral other people in the area, in April ae , Smith sai she di did note even file an in- surance claim, rrying that doing so might peat fo her home becoming w surable. She said help from neighbours and industrial dryers she purchased after the last flood prevented a lot of damage. “This is just not sustain- able," said Smith. "What if Im on vacation and this happens When reached for com- WITH ¢ ment, Halton Region's di- rector of water and waste- water services, ie Oka, said over the past 20 years, 18 homes have been impacted by basement flooding in the Saville area. "We are working with the Town of Oakville to bet- ter determine the cause and identify public and/or private side improvements mit igate the risk of he Region will be replacing or became as the public-side astructure in the Savile _ set to be- gin in 2025." The Town of Oakville's director of transportation and engineering, Jill Ste- phen, said the town is un- lertaking a comprehen- sive review of the overall stormwater drainage sys- tem in the area. “The study has begun take approxi- drainage deficiencies, ex- plore opportunities for stormwater system im- provements and select preferred opportunities to improve surface water rainage on the public side. said Stephen. age could be im- proved for imple, through: the addition of storm sewers; add storm sewer inlet: streets already serviced by ARI SOLUTI( TOWN AND REGION WORKING TO ADDRESS ISSUE storm sewers; regrading existing ditches; replacing private ¢ driveway culverts moving blockages from privately adding temporary storm- _ storage in select ar- ea: ‘she also said existing culverts and ditches are be- ing reviewed and inspected as part of the study to de- termine if there are inter- im improvements that can be implemented toimprove ditch drainage prior to y 8 8 5. Smith said something needs to happen to address this situation soon, argu- ing it is being made worse by the construction of new buildings in the area. "It's just not right. needs to be addreesed" said Smith. "There really needs to be a more urgent push and more ownership of this problem." Smith said there should be additional compensa- tion for impacted residents if it is going to be years be- fore the problem is fixed. She also said the region and the town should be warning people who con- sider moving to the area about the potential flood- ing issue waiting for them. The region noted pro- spective homeowners are responsible for arranginga home inspection with a qualified inspector prior to purchase. NS Are you or your aging parent finding it difficult dealing with a later in life transition or health crisis? Are you unsure of what next steps to take? 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