Homeowners in one Ottawa neighbourhood at risk of losing insurance after yet another flood

The cleanup continues for Julie Montgomery after Thursday's storm flooded her basement.

"It receded quite quickly within four hours but the damage is done," she said.

Floorboards have been ripped out and the furnace, washer and dryer all need to be replaced.

She estimates the cleanup alone will cost close to $30,000.

It's not the first time her property was ruined. A massive storm in 2017 caused the sewage system to back up on the streets on Adams Avenue like it did last week. Montgomery is not paying out of pocket yet, but she is at risk of losing insurance.

"We will see how far the money goes, but I eventually will I'm sure," she said. "The coverage dropped to 30k from probably 100; that's just after one flood. After this I'm pretty sure it won't be insurable at all."

Neighbour Rosemary O'Reilly has lived on Adams Avenue for more than thirty years, experiencing six floods. Not all of were covered by insurance.

"Previously, I've had to cover three of my claims myself. I didn't put it through because of risk of losing my coverage completely," said O'Reilly.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says, when it comes to water damage, each company has different guidelines.

"An insurance company is not going to pay out tens of thousands of dollars every year on one policy," said Anne Marie Thomas, the director of consumer and industry relations at IBC. "In a lot of cases, you can buy coverage for sewer backup and overland flood."

Alta Vista Ward Coun. Marty Carr tells CTV News Ottawa the repeated flooding is due to outdated infrastructure. Work to address the sewage issue is under review.

The city of Ottawa sent an email to CTV News Ottawa saying, "We are continuing to gather info about the impact of flood events on Aug. 10 and what happened on Aug. 10 on Adams Ave. The infrastructure in the neighbourhood was built at the same time as the houses. After the 2017 flooding event, the City conducted a study of the infrastructure system in the community. The first phase of improvements to be implemented is the reconstruction of Arch, Canterbury, and Plesser St. project."

But residents want action now.

"The city has to stop doing studies and start doing work," said Montgomery. "This is going to happen again. We know it's going to happen again

As the city continues its review, Carr says claims for damage can be filed to the city of Ottawa and affected residents can apply to the provincial Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians (DRAO) program should it be approved.

The city says it has reached out to Province to request an on-site assessment and is waiting for a response. As such, the DRAO program has not yet been activated for Ottawa, and residents are not able to apply at this time.

"Should the Province choose to activate the program, the City would communicate this to residents on ottawa.ca and through our various social media channels," a statement from the city said.

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