Heavy weekend rain brings Sydney flooding fears back to surface

Twice already during the month of January, Chelsea O'Neil's backyard and basement have suffered significant flooding during a rainstorm.

The young mother was out of town during Saturday night's downpour, and was constantly checking home on whether her Sydney N.S. property was flooded again.

"If the brook was overflowing. How was our house? How was our basement?”, O’Neil said.

This time, it appears O'Neil and others in Sydney's so called ‘Flood Zone' were spared any significant damage.

By Sunday morning, the large pools of water that closed several roads Saturday night had receded.

Still, for home and business owners who have flooded three times since November - it's a problem that seems to be never-ending.

"The issue is people's houses are flooding”, O’Neil said. “Their livelihoods are going down. Not even down the drain, they're going down the road with the water every time it rains. So it's time to put a lot of pressure on the city to fix this problem."

Father Bill Burke's Catholic parish – St. Marguerite Bourgeoys on Cabot Street in Sydney - has flooded in the past.

While it too dodged a bullet this time around, Burke agrees that with the frequency of these storms, a fix has to be found and fast.

"I have to admit coming over this morning for mass, I came around that turn with a bit of trepidation”, Burke told CTV Atlantic. "This is going to happen again and again and again. I just wish we could get a consultative group of engineers and so on and take a look, 'What is the problem and how can it be mitigated?'"

O'Neil said with the Cape Breton Regional Municipality currently considering how to spend a $15 million one-time grant - as part of provincial equalization payments - she'd like to see some of that money go towards flood mitigation.

"God knows where they're going to spend that $15 million”, O’Neil said. “This is time for people to come together and talk to the city about this to have these issues resolved."

CBRM Councillor Eldon MacDonald says while the time for debate around flooding is over, he's not sure the $15 million should be part of the fix.

"To spend $2 or $3 million of that fund, that's going to help a few homeowners - or possibly business owners. There, we need to help as many people as possible and to spend that money strategically”, MacDonald said.

O'Neil said she's been speaking with some neighbours - and local politicians - about what it might take to be bought out and moved elsewhere if the flooding isn't fixed soon.

"Everything has a price and I know what my price is”, she said.

CBRM’s next discussion on how to spend the $15 million grant are set to take place during budget talks starting in February.