Threat of flooding looms over Niagara as heavy rain forecast

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for the Niagara Region today, forecasting upwards of 50 millimetres of rain for the region.

While there is no significant rainfall reported this afternoon, the next 24 hours could see the same type of storm that caused the first round of floods weeks ago.

Training storms are back-to-back-to-back systems that can bring a heavy amount of rain to a region over a short period of time. This is what caused the first wave of storm damage in St. Catharines and the Town of Lincoln, and it is also the type of storm being forecast over the next 24 hours for Niagara.

“The special weather advisory today kind of feels like some cosmic joke,” said resident Ashley Brown.

For the Brown family in St. Catharines, the first round of storms brought rainwater flooding the basement through the basin window.

“I think it makes us all shudder just a little bit,” Brown said.

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Residents in St. Catharines and the Town of Lincoln have every reason to be concerned. Environment Canada told CHCH News the next 24 hours for this region will be critical. They are monitoring a storm cell that could bring in excess of 50 millimetres of rain — not the same amount as the first floods to the region, but the same type of storm.

Brown is concerned, but trying to prepare.

“We did apply for the FLAP program, it’s a little bit of funding to install a sump pump and a backflow prevention valve,” she said. “We will absolutely be doing both of those things.”

Environment Canada also notes the region will see pop-up showers in the coming days and a drier forecast next week — a light at the end of the tunnel, but not the news residents who are trying to rebuild want to hear.

“We were mere days away from having photos taken of our house to list it, and now absolutely we will have to wait,” Brown said.

Residents in the Niagara region should monitor their basements and areas around their home as this system passes through.

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