Ice storm turned to flooding along Rideau River

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Good morning!

Well folks, it’s official: today is the first newsletter of the year not to use a negative temperature in the weather. Which is pretty wild, considering this time last year we had a major ice storm bearing down on us that knocked out power for huge swathes of the city. Climate change really comes at you fast.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a restful weekend. I didn’t quite get the chance; there were a bunch of fallen trees to clean up at my father’s place, some finishing touches on the final issue of Ottawa Magazine (on newsstands soon!), and a vet to visit, but the idea of a long weekend was nice.

Hope you didn’t miss the Lookout too much, we’ll be back to our regular schedule next week.

Why don’t we get to today’s newsletter.

— Robert Hiltz, managing editor

Consider forwarding this to your friends so they can discover the Lookout. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free.

Weather Report

Wednesday: +19 🌡️ +7 | 🌦

Thursday: +25 🌡️ +9 | ☀️

Friday: +22 🌡️ +8 | ☀️

WEATHER

First ice, then floods, now glorious spring

What happened: Spring has got off to a soggy start as last week’s ice storm has turned into this week’s flooding. The Rideau River was pushed over its banks south of the city, flooding homes along its watershed in places like Kemptville, CTV reported.

• Added to the problem of rising water was the lack of power for many, whose sump pumps and other equipment could not hold back water from basements. Now that the water has begun to recede, the repairs begin, CTV reported.

Flood warnings: The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority issued a flood warning for waterways in the Tay Valley, and along the Rideau between Manotick and Becketts Landing, as well as from Smiths Falls to Burritts Rapids, CBC reported.

Last Wednesday’s storm is largely to blame for the flooding. In addition to the large amount of rain, and frozen water which mostly melted the next day, the storm quickly melted the accumulated snow. Until the snow is gone, there is still the risk of further floods.

Remaining outages: The majority of customers who had lost power in Gatineau are now back online, with only a few hundred still left on Tuesday, Radio-Canada reported. In rural areas surrounding the city, there were still about 1,500 customers without power.

Forecast: The coming week is going to be a gorgeous one. Temperatures will be well above normal, hitting the low to mid-20s into the weekend. Typically for this time of year, the high is 10, with an average low of 0, according to CTV.

OTTAWA BY THE NUMBERS

🐰 12,000: The number of meals the Ottawa Mission served over Easter weekend, well above its previous average of about 2,000. [CBC]

🥌 75,000: TD Place drew this many fans for the World Men’s Curling Championship. [CTV]

🚨 11: This many people suffered carbon monoxide poisoning after using their barbecue inside the house for heat. [CBC]

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OUTSIDE DOWNTOWN

🚓 A driver was pulled over in Nepean and arrested for driving while suspended. He’s been disallowed from driving since 2000. [CTV]

🚔 A driver in Leeds County was charged by police when they were pulled over doing 140 km/h on Highway 401 with an infant in the back and not in a car seat. [Ottawa Citizen]

🔌 A power outage Tuesday at Manor Park Public School closed it for a day. The school was expected to reopen today. [CTV]

⚠️ The 401 was closed near Cornwall for several hours Tuesday, because officers said they spotted a handgun and a potential bomb in a speeding vehicle. [CTV]

🚨 Police are looking for witnesses to a fatal single-vehicle crash Saturday in the morning hours south of Cumberland. [CTV]

⏫ The Ontario government will almost double its annual funding to Leeds and Grenville to combat homelessness. Funding will increase to $3.2 million from a previous $1.6 million. [CTV]

CITY HALL

City staff refuse to answer detailed LRT questions without council vote

What happened: City staff refused to answer detailed questions about the LRT from a Barrhaven councillor unless the whole council votes to assign staff additional resources, the Ottawa Citizen reported.

• Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo, a former OC Transpo driver, submitted 20 written questions to staff on some of the specifics of how the LRT was constructed, following yet another system failure. Questions like how often the overhead power cables are inspected and why the voltage is double that of similar systems elsewhere in the province.

Too hard: City staff said the questions were too complex to answer with their usual resources. “As this inquiry requires significant resource and time investments, Council direction is required to adjust staff work plans and proceed with responding to this inquiry,” staff replied, according to the Citizen.

That’s weird: While staff wouldn’t respond to Lo’s written questions, the director of transit engineering was able to spend an hour in the councillor’s office, informally answering questions.

• “I think it was a goodwill gesture. But the formal response has been a bit of surprise [because] if he’s able to do that it means that information is available somewhere,” Lo told the Citizen.

Bad weather shutdown? The transit commission will likely explore whether it’s a good idea to pre-emptively shut down the LRT during bad weather and institute bus service in its place, CityNews reported. Because of the frequent problems with the train, it’s possible it’s worth it.

Also at city hall

🏨 The company looking to build a hotel at the airport with government assistance said they would accept a shorter tax break for less money if it would get council support. A vote at the city’s finance committee ended in a 6-6 deadlock to give Germain Hotels a 25-year, $13.1-million tax break for a new hotel. Now, the company said it would be willing to accept a break of only $3.7 million over 10 years. The full council will vote on the matter today. [Ottawa Citizen]

🚂 The huge budget gap OC Transpo faces won’t be covered by the system’s reserves. The agency expects to be $39 million short this year in funding, money the city hoped another level of government would cover. At the end of the year, the city only expects the transit reserve fund to have about $9 million, well short of what is necessary. [CBC]

HOUSE OF THE WEEK

We’re not often shocked by listings around here, but this one was something of a surprise. Four bedrooms, a pool (heated by rooftop solar panels!), an upgraded kitchen, and a basement movie theatre (pictured!), this bungalow is…surprisingly affordable.

See the listing to find out how affordable.

THE AGENDA

💰 Towns across eastern Ontario frequently offer six-figure bonuses to entice family doctors to settle in their communities. The payments are increasingly pitting communities against each other. [CBC]

🚨 The costs of having your vehicle stolen can be high, even if recovered. Auto thefts were up in the province by 15 percent in 2021 from the year before (the most recent figures available). [CTV]

🪧 With a strike vote for PSAC workers wrapping up, what comes next? If public service workers do go on strike, it would probably look much different than the strikes of 1991 and 2004. [Ottawa Citizen]

⚖️ Prosecutors in Saskatchewan have stayed manslaughter charges in the death of Ottawa’s Hodan Hashi. The family said they were “profoundly disappointed” in the decision. Prosecutors said they were unlikely to get a conviction. [CBC]

🔌 The province will introduce a new “ultra-low” overnight electricity rate of 2.4 cents per kWh, two-thirds the current off-peak rate. [The Canadian Press]

CAPITAL EATS

This week in food

Capital Eats is written by our food editor Ralf Joneikies.

The pizza safari is back and this season I’ll be reviewing a few new, new-to-me and well-established locations and I hope I touch on a few spots that you enjoy.

I begin with the 30-year veteran pizza place in Westboro. They have a new location on Richmond Road and offer 37 different pizzas, from the Ottawa style that we all grew up with, to the wood-fired Neapolitan style. They also do a credible job with all the other casual foods we’ve come to love from burgers and fries to wings and a broad range of sandwiches and salads.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Irish rocker Hozier will headline the final night of the CityFolk festival in mid-September. [Ottawa Citizen]

• Looking to get out on your bike? Here’s an early look at some of the multi-use pathways around town. [Reddit]

• Colourizing old photos is a great way to get a view into the past, like these great shots of old Ottawa. [CBC]

• A local man is using his experience repairing phones to help regular people fix their own on TikTok. [CBC]

• Want to have your announcement featured? Contact our partnership team for more info.

SPORTS

🏒 Sens forward Claude Giroux reached 1,000 career points with two goals and an assist in a win over the Hurricanes. [The Canadian Press]

🥅 Giroux was one of the better signings made by the team over the summer, “better than advertised,” head coach D.J. Smith said. [Ottawa Sun]

🏟️ Now that their playoff hopes are dead and the season winds down, general manager Pierre Dorion is already looking to next year. [Ottawa Sun]

OTTAWA GAMES

Congrats to everyone who got last Friday’s Ottawa Wordle. The answer was POWER, as in what people were out of because of the ice storm.

Do you know where today’s Ottawa Guesser is? The first five people to respond get their names mentioned in the newsletter.

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