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HomeMy WebLinkAboutESD-004-17Emergency Services Report If this information is required in an alternate accessible format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131. Report To: Council Date of Meeting: July 3, 2017 Report Number: ESD-004-17 Resolution: C-217-17 File Number: By-law Number: Report Subject: Cedar Crest Beach Flooding – Key Actions Taken April 26, 2017 – June 26, 2017 Recommendations: 1.That Report ESD-004-17 be received for information; and 2.That all interested parties named in Report ESD-004-17 be provided a copy. Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-004-17 Page 2 Report Overview This report is intended to provide background information regarding the Municipality of Clarington’s Emergency Plan, the chronology of flooding events at Cedar Crest Beach/West Beach and the intended process to develop a waterfront emergency plan. 1. Purpose of this Report The purpose of this report is to: a. Respond to Resolution #C-134-17: “That the Director of Emergency & Fire Services report back with a full report outlining actions taken with respect to the flooding in Cedar Crest Beach Area from April 25, 2017 until the water levels return to normal or June 30, 2017, whichever comes first with reference to the provisions and applications of Emergency Services Emergency Plan.” b. Provide a precursor to the full response in the fall to Resolution #C135-17: “That Staff arrange an information session for Councillors regarding emergency planning and emergency management; and Staff consider updates to By-law 99-161, including clear direction on the roles and responsibilities of members of Council and that staff report back on what communications should be provided to Members of Council.” c. Outline (by way of “Next Steps” in this report) the intended process for responding in September to Resolution #GG-259-17: “That Staff report back on the creation of a comprehensive waterfront emergency plan for each Clarington waterfront area including (but not limited to): property safeguarding procedures and protocols, volunteer coordination, involvement of third party agencies, in-home assessments, evacuation criteria and strategies, and communication strategies for same.” 2. Background The Municipality of Clarington has an Emergency Plan that is reviewed annually. Each year designated members of the Emergency Control Group take part in a training exercise utilizing the information and processes outlined in the Emergency Plan. Our plan is somewhat different than most as it also encompasses elements we are required to do in the event of a nuclear emergency at Darlington Nuclear Generating Station located in Clarington. During an emergency, it is first assessed to determine the magnitude of the event. For example, if we had a major brush or forest fire in or around the Ganaraska Forest, this may require more resources and specialized forestry equipment than we have. Our Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) would most likely be activated and key staff, as part of the Emergency Control Group, would be called in to the EOC located at 3333 Hwy 2, Newcastle (Fire Station 2). Once convened the group would be updated, in this instance by the Fire Chief or Deputy Chief, as to the event and what needs to be done Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-004-17 Page 3 would be considered. The Control Group would review various options and look at what resources are required. The Mayor, as part of the Control Group, would be kept informed and would liaise with Council to keep them up to speed. The Mayor and possibly the Fire Chief and/or CEMC (Community Emergency Management Coordinator) with the assistance of the Corporate Communications Manager would correspond with the media. Council would be kept updated and any general concerns from the various Council members could be communicated to the Mayor and/or the EOC. The Emergency Plan allows flexibility as no two emergencies are the same. Each situation requires different resources and strategies to mitigate. Thus the Municipality has not written a specific plan for flooding emergencies but instead follows standard operating procedures for emergencies. However, a plan specific to flooding has been requested by Council and will be developed. See “Next Steps” of this report. With respect to the current flooding conditions experienced in Clarington, this type of emergency is relatively new. The last time we had a similar event was in 1986. The extremely high lake levels made it very difficult to control flooding that is caused by wave action and surge. In an emergency the primary concern is for life safety. If residents are impacted by high levels of water in their homes, the most common plan is to have them evacuate until the water subsides. The Municipality, as with most others, is not equipped to deal with lake effect flooding to this degree. Cobourg, Brighton, Belleville are all experiencing this problem. For many years the Province has been trying to educate Ontario residents to be prepared. They suggest residents do self-assessments and plan to be self-sufficient for up to 72 hours. In flood prone areas, residents should have a plan on how to sand bag, where to purchase them and possibly make arrangements with a contractor. Residents should also have an adequate sump pump, back up pumps and possibly generators for such an emergency. It is very unlikely a Municipality would have enough pumps or generators to assist. Many municipalities that experience this type of annual flooding do gear up in some respects to supply some sand bags and sand for residents to pick up and use on their own. 3. Key Actions Taken April 26 – June 26, 2017 (as documented by the Director of Emergency & Fire Services) Wednesday, April 26, 2017 I received a phone call from Chris Darling from Central Lake Conservation Authority (CLOCA) making me aware of the high lake levels. That afternoon myself and Deputy Chief Hesson toured the Cedar Crest Beach area and noted that the lake seemed quite high but at this time had not caused any concerns. At this point we had not received any concerns from the local residents either. Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-004-17 Page 4 Sunday, April 30, 2017 At 12:46 p.m. we received a call from a resident at 93 Cedar Crest Beach Road. A storm was bringing rain and high winds causing the lake to surge towards the shoreline along Lake Ontario in the West Beach and Cedar Crest Beach area. Upon arrival our first Pumper in identified there was some flooding occurring in the area as a result of the surge splashing the shoreline and some water being pushed over the beach head. This caused water to start to pool in many of the residents’ properties. As the afternoon progressed many residents were experiencing flooding in crawl spaces and in some basements. (Note, only a few homes in this area have basements.) Several Tankers were deployed to utilize their pumps. Staff pumped out several crawl spaces starting at 93 Cedar Crest Beach Rd. Operations Department was contacted and sand and sand bags were deployed to help assist with trying to keep the water from getting into the crawl spaces as well as trying to block the surge/wave action in front of many of the homes being impacted. Sand bags were placed between 87 and 83 Cedar Crest Beach Rd. I reached out to area municipalities and Durham Emergency management Office (DEMO) to try and access more sand bags but very few were available. A local rental company was contacted and they made additional pumps available to residents. This was verbally communicated to area residents. By mid-afternoon the winds and surge had diminished, however we were still getting some rain. The conditions had settled down somewhat and most residents were still trying to keep water from entering their crawl spaces, basements and homes. Monday, May 1, 2017 We reassessed, contacted suppliers and brought in more sand and sand bags, deployed 5 trucks and 7 staff from the Operations Department to assist residents. Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-004-17 Page 5 Monday evening during the Council meeting I received email concerns regarding the Cedar Crest Marsh as it was now flooding parts of the road. I attended the area after the meeting was over and met the Operations Supervisor. We decided to bring in some staff from both Operations and Fire to assist in building a sand bag wall along a portion of the road that was flooding. We completed this around midnight. Residents had been trying to open the outfall from the marsh into the lake as the marsh was very high. These efforts seemed to help. In the morning we requested and were granted permission from CLOCA to allow us to open the outfall. Once opened up, the marsh lowered and flooding along the road diminished. Operations moved equipment and deployed staff to do this and this equipment remains on site to this day. We continued to monitor the area each day and continued to acquire and build sand bags for residents who requested bags. Friday, May 5, 2017 At approximately 7:00 a.m. we started to receive more calls regarding the storm and flooding as winds had picked up and we were seeing the wave and surge impact residents. Operations and Fire staff were dispatched and again more sand bags were built and deployed. We activated the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and convened around 0900 hrs. Once the EOC was manned I went back to Cedar Crest Beach Rd. and lead the scene from 87 Cedar Crest Beach Rd. The Municipal Control Group: - Co-ordinated resources from all departments and from the Region – Social Services, DART, Police - Communicated to the public and media actions to take to stay safe and Municipality’s response to the emergency Later that morning MPP Granville Anderson visited the site and spoke to some residents. Fire worked with Operations to have several portable washrooms brought in for use by the residents and the volunteers. Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-004-17 Page 6 I spoke with United Rental. They offered some pumps to use and I advised them to deliver ASAP. Staff, along with residents helped document who needed more sand bags, and pumps, etc. By 6:00 p.m. most of the sand bags that had been requested were delivered and put in place. By 7:00 p.m. most of the help had left and a quick count identified we had approximately 1,000 plus sand bags ready to be deployed. The following few days we continued to build more sand bags. Saturday, May 6, 2017 Both the Red Cross and Salvation Army delivered bottled water to residents and assisted in doing additional assessments of each home. The marsh level continued to fluctuate with the different rain storm events, requiring the need to check the outfall daily to ensure it is kept open. Tuesday, May 9, 2017 I requested some water totes be brought in to assist residents with non-potable water for washing, etc. As well, I was able to source a Quench Buggy from Ajax which they loaned us to use for drinking water. It dispensed water for filling jugs and had drinking taps to drink from. The only concern was from Durham Health Department. We were required to test the water at least 2-3 times daily to ensure the HCL % was maintained. Wednesday, May 10, 2017 Two additional portable washrooms were deployed. At 0530 Salvation Army went door-to-door to assess the residents’ personal needs. The facilities at the Alan Strike Aquatic and Squash Centre was made accessible to the residents. Thursday, May 11, 2017 The Quench Buggy was approved for use and well tests were returned with no issues. Friday, May 12, 2017 I received a call from Port of Newcastle regarding flooding in that area. They requested 300 sand bags. Myself and the Operations Director, Fred Horvath attended to see the water levels. Docks around the Brig were flooded. Fuel pumps and sewage pump were unusable due to high water levels. Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-004-17 Page 7 We continued to monitor conditions daily, building sand bags and delivering to those residents requesting them. Monday, May 15, 2017 During the week of May 15, myself and Steve Brake along with Bob Genosko attended a Provincial meeting in Cobourg on debris management. This meeting identified various issues and concerns as to how to dispose of debris, sand bags, etc. Saturday, May 20, 2017 Just after 0930 calls started to come in for flooding. Again staff were called in to assist with sand bag filling and deploying. More pumps were dispatched to various residents where they did not have their own to help pump out crawl spaces, etc. Operations continued to maintain the outfall as rain was also causing the marsh to fill. By mid-afternoon the weather had settled down and the wave surge had stopped. Red Cross and Salvation Army were called in again to assist and go home to home ensuring all residents were managing. Over the next few days, sand bag efforts continued. In discussions with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) it was suggested to concentrate on building walls around the homes to protect them from the surge water that was pooling during the storms. Sunday, May 21, 2017 An after-hours line was set up to provide residents direct contact to Operations on-call staff for flooding concerns. Thursday, May 25, 2017 Mid-morning we were into another storm with major surge occurring. It was the worst to date, causing water to actually flow across properties into the marsh. Parts of Cedar Crest Beach Rd. became totally submerged with close to a foot of water in areas. An additional 30 staff members from Operations were deployed. Utilized OVERT to assist with some coordination with volunteers and sandbagging. Salvation Army attended again providing food, etc. Red Cross helped with assessments. I requested some additional help from the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC). A flood e-mail notification group of key staff members was created for residents to communicate their flooding concerns. (Flood@clarington.net) Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-004-17 Page 8 Friday, May 26, 2017 A crew of 8 plus a Crew Leader from MNRF was sent. They brought 20,000 sand bags and mainly focused on building flood barriers for homes fronting the lake. Close to 50 people consisting of volunteers, Operations and Fire Staff, convened to do a home-to-home assessment and build sand bag walls at close to 20 plus homes. Monday, May 29, 2017 A second crew of 13 from MNRF arrived and stayed until May 31. They again built sand bags and helped deploy them. They brought an additional 6,500 sand bags. Tuesday, May 30, 2017 Concerns were received from West Beach residents about water on the road in one area. Additional gravel was added to raise the road which seemed to work well. The Red Cross distributed Flood Clean-Up Kits to residents and a door-to-door assessment was completed by Fire and Operations staff, recording sand bag requirements. Wednesday, May 31, 2017 Clarington staff and CLOCA met with a Coastal Engineer. Thursday, June 1, 2017 A third crew of 13 from MNRF arrived June 1 and stayed until June 3. They built and deployed sand bags. The Provincial Disaster Assessment Team (PDAT) from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) arrived to do an assessment of the area to provide to the Minister for consideration to be added to the list of declared areas in the Province for Disaster Recovery Assistance for residents and businesses. The PDAT visited many of the homes and properties, as well as, the Port Darlington Marina. Friday, June 2 – Saturday June 3, 2017 Volunteers and Municipal staff along with MNRF conducted more assessments, rebuilt some walls and added sand bags to many others. We continued to monitor the area and had Operations staff continue to build more sand bags and deliver to homes requesting additional sand bags. Monday, June 05, 2017 I arranged for our Chief Building Officer (CBO) along with an engineer inspect a couple of homes who felt they had foundation concerns. No immediate concerns were identified with what they saw. Residents called out for volunteers to conduct another round of reassessing some homes and shoring up some sand bag walls, adding a layer or two, etc. Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-004-17 Page 9 Saturday, June 10, 2017 Close to 35 residents and volunteers as well as some Fire and Operations staff assisted in the assessment and deployed sand bags We continued to monitor conditions daily and advised Operations when the outfall was closed in Saturday, June 10 – Tuesday, June 13, 2017 Through monitoring the area we found that the outfall was closed each night. Operations attended the area to open the outfall each morning. On June 13 we moved the new Sandbagger machine to the municipal lot and cleaned up the lot where it had previously been located. Wednesday, June 14, 2017 The outfall was partially closed and had notified Operations to reopen. Toured the Port Darlington Marina and levels on fixed docks suggested the lake was down possibly 3 inches or so. Thursday, June 15, 2017 CAO Curry Clifford and I visited 93 Cedar Crest Beach Rd., the home of Sarah Delicate. Sarah showed us the affects the waves were having at this time causing some minor surge/wave flooding and erosion of the waterfront. We toured some other properties with her to review conditions. Friday, June 16 – Thursday, June 22, 2017 Continued to monitor conditions each day, advised Operations when the outfall was closed and required reopening. With several rain events the marsh on both sides seemed to maintain levels that did not create additional flooding. Friday, June 23, 2017 The outfall was partially closed. Operations was advised to reopen. Heavy rains caused some flooding along Cedar Crest Beach Rd. West Beach appeared to be okay. Due to the heavy rain, Clarington experienced flooding at various locations. Calls were received from Darlington Provincial Park advising that the water level at Robinson Creek was causing the main campsite road to flood. Various subdivisions experienced flooding as the catch basins were not able to handle the amount of water. Major flooding experienced at Middle Rd. and Concession 3 as well as Baseline Rd., between Spry and Liberty St. S. Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-004-17 Page 10 Sections of the trails were also flooded. Late that afternoon, many of the closed roads had been reopened. Operations had numerous wash outs to attend to. Extensive work is still on-going as Operations restores the affected areas of Clarington roads and trails. Saturday, June 24, 2017 The outfall was open and flooding on Cedar Crest Beach Rd. had subsided and was fully open again. Operations staff were repairing some side roads at various locations in Clarington. Sunday, June 25, 2017 Outfall found to be partially closed. The water level in both marsh areas were good. Visited Port Darlington Marina and found that the lake level appeared to be down somewhat as some of the fixed docks were now above water. Monday, June 26, 2017 Outfall was closed. I advised Operations to have it opened. We will continue to monitor conditions on a regular basis and advise Council should conditions change. 4. Concurrence The Director of Operations has reviewed this report and concurs with it. 5. Next Steps As we move forward we will continue to monitor the conditions of the lake and marsh both at Cedar Crest Beach and West Beach. As well, we continue to monitor conditions at Port Darlington Marina, Port of Newcastle Marina and the various parks along our lake shore. We have engaged a consultant and are currently working on the process to develop a comprehensive waterfront emergency plan for each of the waterfront areas identified in Clarington as requested by Resolution #GG-259-17. This report on key actions will be reviewed to help shape this plan. It is my intent to have this completed for review by the General Government Committee at its September 25 meeting. As per Resolution #C-135-17 we arranged an information session during our exercise on June 2 where Council was invited. We will be conducting another session in the near future for those who were unable to attend. During this session, we will discuss what communications should be provided to Members of Council and an update to By-law 99- 161 with respect to the roles and responsibilities of Members of Council. Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-004-17 Page 11 Potable water and portable washrooms were provided on May 5 as directed in Resolution #GG-263-17. A local supplier provided potable water in totes on May 11. The totes have been removed and we are currently reassessing the need for portable toilets as many residents have restored the use of their septic systems. The Director of Operations, staff and myself have been meeting to discuss plans for the removal of sandbags and clean up efforts in the affected areas. We hope to have this plan finalized in the near future and will advise residents of the plan. We are in the hands of Mother Nature and hopefully if warmer weather arrives and less rainfall, we should see the lake water levels start to lower at a quicker pace. This will help determine when to start the cleanup. In the event further storms occur Operations and Emergency Services staff will continue to assist residents to our current standards unless otherwise directed by Council. 6. Strategic Plan Application Not applicable. Submitted by: Reviewed by: Gord Weir, Curry Clifford, MPA, CMO Director of Emergency & Fire Services Interim CAO Staff Contact: Gord Weir, Director of Emergency and Fire Services / Fire Chief, 905-623-5126 ext. 2802 or gweir@clarington.net Attachments: Attachment 1 – Cedar Crest/West Beach Flood 2017 Interested Parties: Port Darlington Ratepayers Association Newcastle/Bond Head Ratepayers Association Southeast Clarington Ratepayers Association Sarah Delicate and Jim Mackenzie Michelle Lomas Christine Brown Read Jeff Mitchell Joanne Ford Kelly Gallant Angela Penfound Susie and Danny Plumpton Nancy and Jason Edwards GW/pm Attachment 1 to Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-004-17 Cedar Crest Beach Flood 2017 Water Tote Sand Bagging New Sandbagger Machine Outfall Attachment 1 to Municipality of Clarington Report ESD-004-17 Cedar Crest Beach Flood 2017 Operations / Fire Staff and Volunteers Cedar Crest Beach Rd. Flooded CCB Flooded Residential Property Firefighters Pumping Water from Crawl Spaces/Basements