Late in the evening of July 14, 2004, what started as a trickle of rain in Peterborough morphed into a catastrophic weather event that saw an estimated 14 billion litres of rain dumped on the city.
Close to 10 inches of rain fell into the next morning, flooding streets, homes and businesses as the city’s storm sewers were overwhelmed. For many property owners, sewage back-up was the big problem, resulting in the loss of personal property.
Firefighters pumped out close to 2,000 basements, 25 people were rescued from their vehicles and Extendicare residents were evacuated. Over the following weeks, 12,500 tons of flood debris was taken to the landfill.
Terry Guiel, an Ashburnham Ward city councillor at the time, says he was first notified of the pending emergency around 4 a.m. by a flooded out East City resident.
Guiel says despite the destruction and loss, he sensed from the get-go that Peterborough would bounce back in quick fashion.
Guiel says Peterborough’s elected leaders, led by then mayor Sylvia Sutherland, stepped up to the plate during a time of crisis.
The flood resulted in $95 million in insured losses while the cost of repairs to city infrastructure totaled an estimated $21 million.
(Written by: Paul Rellinger)
