Municipalities, private property owners begin assessing flood damage in Dufferin County.
Mother Nature has given Dufferin County an early summer test in resiliency.
After a powerful thunderstorm sending emergency and municipal personnel into response mode overnight, the Grand and Credit river systems burst their banks early Friday morning (June 23), leaving areas of Grand Valley, Mono, Amaranth, Orangeville and East Garafraxa underwater.
In total, Orangeville received between 96 and 105 mm of rain overnight, while Grand Valley, which endured the most significant flooding in the county, received more than 100 mm of rain in a condensed time period for the first time since 2008.
Eventually, more than 20 roads were closed due to flooding or washouts across Dufferin County.
The OPP reported it evacuated some residents in Hockley Valley early Friday morning.
Much of Grand Valley was flooded as the overflowing Grand River raged throughout the day; the GRCA reported water levels were receding by Saturday but would remain high throughout the week.
At its peak early Friday morning, the water in the Grand River was moving at a pace of 350 cubic metres per second.
“Worst flooding I’ve seen in 20 years in GrandValley,” Canwarn severe weather spotter Kirk MacDonald posted on Twitter during Friday’s flood.
Fortunately, the majority of wastewater reaching the plant when the WPCP’s bypass gates were opened was runoff and not domestic sewage, explained Orangeville’s director of public works Doug Jones.