Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara says the town is committed to spending millions of dollars more in new flood prevention measures.
McNamara tells AM800 News, the town's new stormwater management master plan is set to be presented to council in late September. The master plan will outline millions of dollars in recommended projects to fight back against increasingly severe storm and rain events.
"We've got a lot more work to do. We're going to continue to invest a large amount of capital to deal with, again, protecting homes," says McNamara.
On Tuesday, council received a report recapping its current flood mitigation strategy following — to administration's knowledge — the two largest rainfall events ever recorded in the town's history.
McNamara says the town has already spent upwards of $50-million towards flood mitigation since 2011 including backwater valve subsidy, sewer rehab and downspout disconnection programs.
He expects another $25-million to $30-million in spending is likely to be included in the master plan.
"More holding ponds, more forcemains forcing water against the grain so to speak to hold it back so that it doesn't flood the folks that are at the most vulnerable part of our community," says McNamara.
Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara chairs a meeting of council on February 13, 2018. (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)
The mayor says something needs to be done to protect residents from increasingly frequent severe rain events.
"We certainly don't have control over it," says McNamara. "Mother Nature and climate change is here, it's a reality that we're facing but, we're not standing idly by — we're going to continue to improve the system."
McNamara says the town is also pushing insurers to provide more flood coverage for homeowners in municipalities that are taking appropriate steps to address the problem.
"Municipalities that are actually proactive in trying to mitigate these particular issues, there should be some sort of reward for those communities," says McNamara.
On September 29, 2016 — roughly 220mm of rain fell in a 24 hour period in Tecumseh including 110mm over a two hour stretch, from 8am to 10am.
On August 28, 2017 — Tecumseh again saw an intense downpour with 129mm of rain fall in an 11 hour period.