 2 July 14, 2:48 p.m. - Environment Canada issues a heavy rainfall warning for the area, expecting between 40 and 70 millimetres over the next 12 hours. July 14, 7:07 p.m. - Environment Canada ends the warning but notes thunderstorms are expected to intensify. July 14, 11:50 p.m. - Environment Canada issues a second heavy rainfall warning. July 15, around 1 a.m. - Heavy rain begins to fall on the city and surrounding area. July 15, 3:30 a.m. - The first calls for assistance begin to come in. The city activates its emergency preparedness plan. Volunteers and city staff are summoned to man the phones at the public inquiry centre located at the back of city hall. Fire Chief Lee Grant, Deputy Chief Trent Gervais, high ranking city officials and emergency services personnel take up office in a room located on the second floor of police headquarters on Water Street to co-ordinate city services. July 15, 4 a.m. - 172 seniors are evacuated from Extendicare Peterborough after the building's roof begins to leak. The seniors are taken to the evacuation centre at the Evinrude Centre. The evacuation centre is operated by the city's social services department, the Red Cross and Salvation Army. July 15, 5 a.m. - Mayor Sylvia Sutherland is called to city hall. July 15, 6:15 a.m. - Sutherland declares the city is in a state of emergency as hundreds of residents wake to find their homes and businesses flooded. July 15, 9:30 a.m. - The call centre has received about 400 calls for service, not including flooded basements. July 15, 10 a.m. - The county's emergency preparedness plan is enacted and county offi- Timeline of the 2004 floodcials and OPP officers meet at the Peterborough County OPP station to begin responding. July 15, morning - The city's drainage system is over capacity from the substantial amount of rain in such a short amount of time. At least four million gallons of untreated sewage is dumped into the Otonabee River. A boil water advisory is issued for residents in Otonabee-South-Monaghan. Electricity is intentionally cut to 650 homes. July 15, noon - A second evacuation centre opens at Sir Sandford Fleming College. July 15, 1 p.m. - Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield, Otonabee-South Monaghan and the county each declare a state of emergency. An evacuation centre opened for county residents at Lakefield Intermediate School. July 15, afternoon - The evacuation centres at Sir Sandford Fleming and Lakefield Intermediate are closed and redirected to the Evinrude Centre. Extendicare patients are moved from the Evinrude Centre to Marycrest Long-term Care. At a late day press conference, the mayor vigorously defends the sewage system design when questions surface as to whether it was to blame for two floods in as many years. Fire Chief Grant dispels rumours that problems at the Trent-Severn Waterway's locks were to blame for the flood. July 15, 9:30 p.m. - More than 1,361 calls for assistance have been received at 911 and the city's emergency response centre since 3:30 a.m. July 15, evening - The state of emergency continues as residents settle down for the evening. Officials say 650 homes in the city and 250 in the county were flooded. Liberal MP Peter Adams says the city may not qualify for emergency funding from the federal government. July 16 - Premier Dalton McGuinty is flown into Peterborough and tours several damaged areas. He pledges financial support from the province and hopes to have money delivered to victims soon. City officials estimate damage to Peterborough's infrastructure could exceed $20 million. Damage to the county is estimated at $400,000. About 1,000 homes are still without gas and 300 do not have power. Fire crews from surrounding municipalities arrive in the city to help. A total of 56 million gallons of untreated sewage is dumped into the Otonabee River before the sewage treatment plant resumes normal operations. The Peterborough Food Bank announces it has lost four months worth of food. Several fundraisers are organized for the service. Garbage collection and transit services resume. Cleaning kits begin to be distributed at the Evinrude Centre. July 17 and 18 - Ronnie Hawkins announces he will headline a flood relief concert, to be held Aug. 6. Less than 60 homes are without electricity. The fire department pumps hundreds more basements. July 21 - McGuinty promises $5 million in immediate aid for Peterborough even as the number of insurance claims nears 3,500. He says the province will contribute $2 for every $1 raised by the city through the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program. MunicipalTHE EXAMINER/WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2009Affairs Minister John Gerretson hands over cheques to councillors at a special meeting to address the flood. The county gets $500,000 while the city gets the remainder. Most of the city's cut is to go towards infrastructure. Fifteen residents are named to the Peterborough Area Flood Relief Committee; former city councillor Paul Ayotte is its chairman. July 26 - The city announces it has raised almost $400,000. Damage estimates are at $48.8 million. Eighty per cent of garbage has been picked up. July 29 - The state of emergency is declared over two weeks after the flood. Close to 800 advance relief cheques are picked up at city hall on the first day of distribution. Aug. 3 - Premier McGuinty delivers a $127,000 cheque to Peterborough and the Kawarthas Tourism for an ad campaign. He encourages the federal government to speed up disaster relief. Aug. 4 - Gordon Lightfoot confirms he will perform at the flood relief benefit concert, buoying hopes of a sellout. The flood relief fund has received $677,000 in donations. The Peterborough Area Flood Relief Committee sets its fundraising target at $2 million. Aug. 6 - The flood relief benefit concert is a success as Ronnie Hawkins and Gordon Lightfoot sell out the Memorial Centre. The event, when matched with provincial funding, raises $1.5 million for flood victims. Aug. 13 - 3,249 households and businesses file claims for early emergency flood relief assistance before deadline, resulting in an initial payout of more than $2 million. Fundraising: By November $3.3 million had been raised by the community. The province matched that amount with $6.46 million, creating nearly $10 million for flood victims.PETERBOROUGH (Head Office)666 The Parkway, P.O. Box 1301 Peterborough, ON K9J 7H5Tel: (705) 745-2666? Fax: (705) 741-6272 Toll Free:1-888-853-9594 E-mail: superior@supdis.com COBOURG / PORT HOPE (Branch)578 Victoria St. P.O. Box 1201 Cobourg, ON K9A 5A4 Tel:(905) 372-0189? Fax: (905) 373-0767 Toll Free:1-877-372-0189 E-mail:superiorcob@supdis.com LINDSAY / FENELON FALLS (Branch)221 Kent Street West Lindsay, ON K9V 2Z1 Tel:(705) 324-6987? Fax (705) 324-6991 Toll Free:1-888-324-6987 E-mail: lindsay@supdis.com63692001
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