Sometimes It Floods in Guelph

"Speed River Flood Termed Worst in 20 Years." screamed the headline on the front of the Mercury on Saturday March 20, 1948. The last great flood of its kind happened in the Spring of 1929, but between the floods there was a World War and a Great Depression, so when the water under the Allan's Dam reached the six-foot level, there was definitely a sense of deja vu.

Bad Day to Go Down to River

The images from the flooding in Toronto yesterday were incredible, the modern metropolis and all its trappings torn asunder by a lot of water appearing very suddenly. Well no one in Guelph has yet had to be rescued from a train by the police marine unit, nor have they seen their basement flooded or have been forced to abandon their car in the middle of a highway-turned-river, but city officials are warning residents to stay clear of local water sources in these overly wet times. 

UPDATE! Flooding at Carden/Macdonell? Seemingly.

From the tip lines comes word that the construction at the corner of Carden Street and Macdonell has caused some flooding in local businesses. My tipster says that the flooding happened last night and caused an unspecified amount of damage to nearby business like Guelph Music and Wild Rose, while forcing restaurants like La Cuccina to close tonight because of water shut-offs. I was just down at the site, and it appears that workers have a pump going, while there seems to be signs of flooding a little further up Carden across from the Provincial courthouse (old City Hall). See the pics below and if you have any information to add to this story either post here, send me a tweet @adamadonaldson or fire me off an e-mail at adamadonaldson{at]]gmail[dot]com.

UPDATE:

I received an e-mail from mayoral candidate and Dis-a-Ray Antiques owner Ray Mitchell this morning.

"Hey- They just broke the sewer at the Carden/MacDonnell intersection (my "Axis of Evil"), it will be shut down for 10-12 days, Ouderkirk and Taylor are SO screwed"

Ray's "Axis of Evil" comment was from last night's Mercury sponsored Mayor's debate (which I plan on writing about shortly). Regardless it seems that something serious is going on at the Macdonell/Carden corner. I haven't had the opportunity to investigate further because of more present concerns like making money and job-hunting lately, but I encourage people to keep sending me info.