'12 inches of poop': Owners of sewer-flooded homes urge Richmond Hill to pay

Homes in Beverly Acres area suffered significant losses when a torrent of sewage water backed up into basements during heavy rainfall on Jan. 11

Yorkregion.com
February 24, 2020
Sheila Wang

Several Richmond Hill residents are pressing the city to take responsibility for a sewer backup which caused flooding in their basements during last month’s rainstorm.

A number of homes in the Beverly Acres area suffered significant losses when a torrent of sewage water backed up into the basements during a heavy rainfall on the evening of Jan. 11, residents said.

“It’s a sewer problem,” said Annette Simon, who has been sleeping on a futon for a month now after the flood damages forced her out of the basement where she’s dwelled for 21 years, with her daughter Terri Simon living upstairs.

The senior said her frustration grew as the city staff appeared to have stonewalled her repeated request for answers.

“We’d like them to take some responsibility. We’d like some monetary compensation,” Annette said.

Temporarily living upstairs, Annette said she was expected to pay about $5,000 to $10,000 out of pocket for the damages, since the insurance provider won’t fully compensate her loss.

It took another sewer flooding on Feb. 16 -- a month after the one that ravaged her home -- for the city to dispatch a crew to dig up her front lawn to inspect the issue, she said.

What the crew found drove the financially struggling family into despair.

Terri said she was told to install a backflow valve in the basement -- at their own expense -- in order to prevent future flooding, since the main valve on city's property was "faulty."

It was the same crew that responded to a flooding event in May 2017, Terri said, and they flagged the same problem then; it has never been attended to since.

“The flood in January wouldn’t have happened if they fixed it three years ago,” Terri said.

Many York Region residents may recall the stormy night on Jan. 11 when Environment Canada issued a rainfall warning and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority issued a flood warning.

Richmond Hill recorded more than 93 mm of rain falling within a 24-hour period, which could classify this rain event as “a 50-year storm,” according to the city.

Annette and her daughter had to spend the night racing to salvage what they could in the two-foot-deep water as a restoration company was called to clean up the mess and dry the basement, Terri said.

When the water finally receded, the mother was left with an uninhabitable basement -- ripped-up carpets, ruined furniture, holes in the wall and uplifted tiles, she said.

On top of everything, Annette now has to consider taking apart her fireplace and digging through the new flooring for a backflow valve, which could add thousands of dollars to her bill.

Others fared even worse than the mother and daughter on the same night.

Barb Hnatiak of Neal Drive stands in the ripped-up basement kitchen area currently under repair. Her basement was one of several that flooded in January. Feb 11, 2020

While the city had not determined exactly how many homes were affected by the rainstorm, Ward 2 Councillor Tom Muench ventured a guess of about 50.

The fire department alone was called to respond to two single houses and 20 townhomes that were reported to have water in their basements on that night, according to Fire Chief Steve Kraft.

“It was 12 inches of poop,” said resident Sandy Duck, who lives on Taylor Mills.

Duck and her family had to stay in a hotel for 12 days before her house was safe to live in again.

Although Duck didn’t have the same financial struggles, the longtime resident said she was worried the flooding would repeat if the city didn’t maintain the pipes properly after the restoration technician concluded it was caused by a sewer backup from the main drain.

Duck filmed the flooding on her phone, showing how sewage water kept gurgling out of the drain and eventually drenched the basement.

“...the investigation is ongoing,” spokesperson Kathleen Graver wrote in an email on Feb. 14, noting the city would not be responsible for the damages if it was not at fault.

Muench, who has been assisting with several flooded homes in his ward, pointed the finger at the region.

“How this happened is that the York Region sewer pipes were beyond capacity,” the councillor said.

The region denied on Feb. 14 that any spills or overflows occurred within its infrastructure in Richmond Hill, while acknowledging "abnormal pressure" on both regional and local systems, according to Roy Huetl, director of operations, maintenance and monitoring at York Region’s environmental services.

For Terri, it is clear who should hold the bag.

“It’s an issue on the city’s property,” she said affirmatively.

It was the city's lack of upkeep that had led to the mess, Terri and her neighbours said.

They said no work has been done for ages, while the city said their sewers were last cleaned and inspected in 2016.

Muench, on the other hand, blamed it on a lack of development in the area.

"Growth pays for growth," the councillor said. "Richmond Hill is in austerity. Your taxes do not pay for infrastructure."

“I’m tired of bulls--t … they need to compensate the people who had damages done,” Terri said.