Beginning late on Monday, September 9, intense thunderstorms rolled through the area and with them came torrential downpours that drenched Sault Ste. Marie and the surrounding area. Reports of wide-spread flooding shortly followed.

Beginning late on Monday, September 9, intense thunderstorms rolled through the area and with them came torrential downpours that drenched Sault Ste. Marie and the surrounding area.



Reports of wide-spread flooding shortly followed.



For some Old Garden River Road residents, the events that occurred in the early morning hours of Tuesday, September 10 will never be forgotten.



And for those residents, initial feelings of fear and turmoil have shifted to anger and dejection.



Peter Reynolds, a commercial account executive with Dawson and Keenan Insurance, discovered approximately one inch of water in the basement of his Old Garden River Road home shortly after 3:30 a.m.



Living in close proximity to the Root River, Reynolds expected some flooding to occur.



However, with two sump pumps running, he was surprised to find that the water in his basement had risen to nine inches in less than 20 minutes.



He then noticed flooding in his backyard and at 4:10 a.m. he made a 9-1-1 call to request assistance in evacuating the area.



Reynolds told SooToday.com his call was redirected to Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services at which time he was reportedly told that area residents were in no immediate peril, and leaving the area was up the individual.



It was at that time that he and his wife Marianne packed up thier vehicle and attempted to vacate the area.



With water levels rising, escape plans were foiled when their vehicle flooded and stalled in the street.



This is when Reynolds sprang into action and became the neighbourhood hero.



At 4:25 a.m., he began evacuating residents, starting with Carolyn McLean and her 10-year-old daughter, Brooklyn.



After a quick check of his basement where the water had risen to four feet, Reynolds noticed McLean and her daughter trapped at the end of the street in their stalled vehicle with water up to the windows.



He rushed to their aid, but the swift current and pressure of rising water made the vehicle's doors impossible to open.



As the car began to float away, Reynolds feared it would be washed into the Root River and roll over.



He broke a window and extracted the two occupants as his wife Marianne guided them through the darkness in waist-deep water (chest-deep on Brooklyn) to the safety of higher ground.



Reynolds told us that members of the Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services arrived on-scene shortly thereafter at approximately 4:50 a.m., but offered no assistance.



He took it upon himself to evacuate the remaining neighbours, including a number of children, and was finally able to leave the area at 6:15 a.m.



"I was terrified for everyone because I didn't know how high the water was going to get," Reynolds told us.



He and other area residents are angry with City services and their lack of warning or response to a potentially deadly situation.



"[The Fire Department] did not help evacuate any one and seemed uninterested in the urgency of impending flood," he reported to us. "They did not warn the people on the other side of Old Garden River Road to evacuate. They did not direct traffic, offer any assistance, shock counselling, empathy, comfort, blankets, etc. They did not offer to help carry children to safety as we walked by them in water that was waist deep."



Reynolds estimates that in a relatively short period of time, the Root River near his home rose 14 to 16 feet after a culvert washed out under a section of CN rail track near Highway 17 between Fourth and Fifth Line.



"We're down river from the washout and we feel as though we were left to die," he said.



Carolyn McLean's husband, Wayne Ralph who was working out-of-town at the time of the incident, describes Reynolds as a "wonderful and selfless man."



"If my wife and daughter had died right there in the road, and I came home to find this out, I don't know what I would have done," Ralph told us. "We're all feeling a sense of abandonment. Something very serious happened here, and it's not being taken seriously."



Another Old Garden River Road resident, Annette Wishman, told us that "an eight-foot wall of water came down on this neighbourhood" when the culvert upstream washed out, leaving her entire property under water.



She and her family live across the road and downriver from Reynolds and Ralph.



She said at 6 a.m. members of the Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services assisted in getting her dog and two children to safety, but she was nearly swept away as she attempted to wade through the current.



When the water finally receded, she found her gravel driveway and basketball net swept into her neighbour's backyard, between eight and 10 feet of riverbank washed away, and dozens of trees and piles of debris from upstream scattered along her property.

When the garage on her property was constructed, it sat 20 feet from the riverbank.

Due to the extreme and sudden erosion caused by the flood, it now sits just eight feet from the edge of the Root River.

"The power of water is a frightening thing sometimes," Wishman told us as she guided us through the damage.



Now, moving forward, these residents of Old Garden River Road are looking for answers and assurances that something like this won't happen again.



"We need to know, just for peace of mind, what happened up there and why that 9-1-1 call was not acted upon," Wishman said.



The group of concerned residents has been in discussion with City Councillors Brian Watkins and Pat Mick, as well as Mayor Debbie Amaroso about having a state of emergency declared for the area.



The issue is expected to be brought up at the next City Council meeting on Monday, September 23.

SooToday.com spoke with CN Communications Officer, Lindsay Fedchyshyn, who told us that as soon as the rail line culvert washout was discovered on the morning of September 10, the site was shut down and repairs began.



Crews have been on-site working around the clock to restore passenger rail line service and repair the extensive damage.



She said that CN adheres to a strict maintenance schedule which includes annual bridge inspections and weekly rail inspections.



"Our track inspections are done in accordance with federal regulations," Fedchyshyn said. "Those regulations call for twice a week. This track was inspected that week. I have verified with our Regional Chief of Engineering that no abnormalities were noted during the inspections."



As for damage and personal recovery, Reynolds told us that his section of Old Garden River Road lost five vehicles due to flooding, and a large percentage of other home and property damage is not covered by insurance.



He estimates that repairs to his home and property will cost him $25,000-$30,000 out-of-pocket.



Wishman says that any money she receives from the insurance company for the loss of basement contents will be spent on restructuring and shoring the banks of the Root River that border her property.



"Time and time again, permits that would allow us to shore the banks on our property were denied," she said. "We were trying to be proactive to prevent this very thing from happening. Now it's going to cost us $20,000. Insurance doesn't cover that."



As further information is provided by agencies questioned about this incident, SooToday.com will post updates and developments.

Pictured: Although the water had already begun to recede, the level of the Root River (far left side of the photo) is even with the Wishman's flooded property. The river normally flows approximately eight feet below the bank.

Additional SooToday.com coverage of this story