St. Catharines ends State of Emergency one month after ‘traumatizing’ floods

The City of St. Catharines has ended its State of Emergency declaration a month after widespread flooding in the city.

“Ending the State of Emergency does not mean flood recovery is over,” a statement from the City of St. Catharines says.

The statement adds that the city is continuing to call on the federal and provincial governments to provide support for flood recovery, flood alleviation and longer-term storm and sanitary infrastructure.

A St. Catharines resident tells CHCH News infrastructure has been an issue for many years in her neighbourhood.

“We have complained continuously about these culverts on our street that fill up to the street level when we have any kind of severe amount of rain,” says Christine Dougherty. “In 2016, we had a letter from the city telling us that our sewer lines and everything on the street were going to be replaced … Later to be notified that the funds weren’t available anymore. So this has been approximately 10 years that this should’ve been taken care of.”

The city says it has been meeting with the province since July 28, 2026 regarding the floods, including at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Annual Conference.

Dougherty says many of her neighbours are still recovering from the flooding at the end of July and in early August.

“It was really traumatizing and really affected all of our neighbours here. It has brought us together to try and help each other out at this point,” she says. “I’ve lived here 25 years, I’ve never had a drop of rain or water in my basement. However, this was severe.”

The City of St. Catharines says it is going to continue to provide flood recovery updates on its website.

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