Brampton flood could cost city more than $15M in bridge repairs
Published February 25, 2022 at 4:38 pm
The City of Brampton may need to spend some $15 million if the Chrurchville Road bridge needs repairs due to massive flooding.
Brampton’s Churchville was hit hard by flooding last week when warm weather and rain caused ice jams and flooding across the city. There were no injuries reported due to the flood, but many homes were damaged as rising waters reached up to about six feet deep in some areas.
With clean up efforts underway and displaced residents returning home this week, Mayor Patrick Brown says there could be “significant” costs to the city depending on the condition of the bridge.
“It depends on if the bridge over the Credit River is damaged, and if that bridge is damaged…cost estimates could be in excess of $15 million,” Brown said in an interview with insauga.com publisher Khaled Iwamura on Friday.
“In terms of the damage to homes, I imagine that will be a hefty bill as well,” Brown said, adding that “insurance isn’t going to cover the recovery costs of these 100 home owners who’ve had their homes devastated.”
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Brampton Fire Chief Bill Boyes said on Wednesday the city has yet to put a dollar figure on the damage caused by the flood.
Brown said provincial officials are working to determine whether the city meets the disaster recovery requirements, and the mayor has reached out to Premier Doug Ford and Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve Clark to ask for assistance.
Mike Parks with Brampton Public Works said staff are analysing what led to the Churchville flood and said the city is working with Credit Valley Conservation to come up with potential mitigating options to prevent further flooding incidents.
Displaced residents can call 3-1-1 for information or to access emergency services, and home owners will need to contact the Electrical Safety Authority to authorise the safe return of power to any impacted property.
For insurance-related questions, residents impacted by the flood are should contact their insurance provider or the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s Consumer Information Centre (CIC) at 1-844-227-5422 or by emailing [email protected].
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