As flood waters stabilize, river-front residents brace for ‘second pulse’

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West Carleton Disaster Relief was formed in 2017. Since then, there has been a major disaster almost every year, ranging from a tornado that hit Dunrobin and Kinburn in 2018 to the 2022 derecho to a drought in 2025. The volunteer organization, which is similar to Community Emergency Response Teams in the United States that prepare for and respond to local disasters, is the only one of its kind in Ottawa.

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A fourth major flood in less than a decade? The metrics for 10-year and 100-year floods no longer apply, Joyner said.

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“I would consider this a new typical year.”

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Because of the frequency of disaster, there has been evidence of volunteer fatigue, he said. Still, West Carleton is a tight-knit rural community, and local businesses have also stepped up to offer their services.

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At the Constance Bay Community Centre, Liam Mackey is a member of a team of six from Canton’s Mindful Gardens, near Kinburn, who are filling sandbags. He lives near Renfrew and has not been affected by flooding, but he has noticed sandbagging at the Horton works garage.

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“We were doing some team-building work and we saw they needed help. Our boss said, ‘Go and see what you can do. You have half a day,’” Mackey said.

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Constance Bay resident Diane Boisvert did her first stint as a sandbagging volunteer in 2017.

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“I have never been affected, but I have been affected by the people who were affected. Every time, every year, it breaks my heart,” she said.

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At West Carleton Secondary School, students were filling sandbags in the third such blitz since the 2019 flood.

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The City of Ottawa delivers sand to the high school, the students work to fill the bags and the city delivers the bags to wherever they are needed most, said Amie Lee, a science teacher at the school.

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Over the course of the day, students will fill tens of thousands of sandbags, said Lee, who lives on Armitage Avenue near Constance Bay. Both ends of the street are prone to flooding.

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“Lots of these kids have are currently experiencing flooding or have friends who are experiencing flooding,” Lee said. “A lot of kids come from Kanata North or Morgan’s Grant. The person sitting in the chair next to them may be experiencing flooding. It helps to build empathy.”

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Gleb Bamchishen moved into a waterfront house in Constance Bay last August.

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“We saw the statistics before buying the house. We hoped that we would not get such a huge flood in our first year,” he said.

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The house, which has a crawlspace and not a basement, is on a raised island on the lot. It took more than a dozen volunteers to build a wall of sandbags that protects the lowest side of the house, he said.

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“This amount of work isn’t normal,” said Bamchishen, who said he would be much better prepared next time.

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He has no regrets about buying a house on the Ottawa River, though.

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“It was completely worth it. The neighbours said there would be flooding. But look at the view.”

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