Niagara Not Alone in Rain Storm

North end St. Catharines receiving 140mm of rain, but in Ottawa roughly 100 fell

Mother Nature appeared to pick on certain areas of St. Catharines last night, as torrential rain and thunderstorms left widespread flooding, including basements.

The north end of the city recorded almost 140mm of rain, which it is calling a significant weather event, with crews working since early morning to repair damaged areas.

Mayor Mat Siscoe was one of many that had basements flooded, people advised to call insurance companies as soon as possible for claims, and use pumps to remove water.

The city says residents impacted can use public washrooms and showers at the Kiwanis Centre, pools are closed, bottled water also available.

The city also reports no road closures, however, drivers and pedestrians are advised to use caution as conditions can change with more rain expected.

Other closures include sports fields, city parks and trails, the Garden City golf course is closed, as are the Port Dalhousie Supper Market and Hot Summer Nights festival rescheduled to August 26th.

As he considers the Niagara Region, Environment Canada meteorologist David Phillips says this system was a crazy one.  "For example, in Welland, I saw 5mm of rain fall from that storm.  If  you look in Vineland, though, they got 46mm, Port Weller got 60mm... nothing in Kitchener-Waterloo."

He adds it's not just Niagara, as the Ottawa area has been dealing with 100mm of rain from this system.  "It's a very soppy, wet kind of system, it's a low pressure area riding in on a cold front.  But lots of what we call precipitable water, it's like an atmospheric river above Ontario, and if you squeeze all that water together, you'd fill a river."