Town of Port Hawkesbury issued a media release as the municipality continues to recover after rainfall on September 4–5 left the area with flooded basements, sewer backups, surface flooding, and property damage.
The Town retained STRUM Consulting to perform an engineering assessment of municipal stormwater infrastructure, with particular attention to the Tamarac area.
Engineers are also reviewing existing infrastructure drawings, gathering topographic (top-oh-graff-ick) information, and reviewing rainfall information from the recent event and historical events.
As of September 15th, 53 residents from throughout Port Hawkesbury provided information about their experience during the September 4–5 event and, in some cases, previous basement flooding during severe rainfall.
Residents who experienced basement flooding, sewer backups or other significant water-related impacts and have not yet contacted the Town are encouraged to email emo@townofporthawkesbury.ca or call 902-625-7893. The findings from the STRUM review come to Council for public discussion when finished.
The Town is a member of the newly formed Western Cape Breton Regional Emergency Management Organization (REMO), together with Inverness, Victoria and Richmond Counties. During the event, the Town provided the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre as the location for the Regional Emergency Coordination Centre and provided staff, resources and logistical support to the regional response. Town officials contacted the Province about possible regional measures related to Disaster Financial Assistance programming.
