Following a second night of severe thunderstorms, the Mayor of Essex is considering a state of emergency declaration.
"I want our town staff to really think about it. Our families are going to be really heavy hit," said Sherry Bondy. "We're talking about sewer backups. That's significant. We could have some public health issues."
For the past two nights, basements flooded. Bondy said some frustrated residents are having a hard time getting their insurance companies to cover the costs.
"People are saying they put $50,000 into their basement and they're only getting back $10,000 or $20,000. Their insurance claims are maxing out," she explained. "We have a lot of sanitary backups, and there's no coverage or they were in a region that didn't have flood protection."
Once again, Harrow appears to be the epicentre of the damage.
On a more positive note, Bondy noted much of the flood water from Wednesday night's storm has begun to recede.
She's just one of many municipal officials asking the public for patience while power is restored and streets are cleared of debris.
In Lakeshore, municipal officials are urging residents not to use the water in their homes.
Backup generators are operating at main water and stormwater pump stations, but the system could easily be overwhelmed, causing sewage to flow back into people's homes.
Spokesperson Alex Denonville said residents in areas experiencing flooding are asked not to shower, do laundry, run dishwashers, or flush the toilet until further notice.
Those experiencing basement flooding are asked not to drain water down their floor drain or laundry tub. That can also overwhelm the sewer system.
Those using a backup pump after their sump pump failed should drain water out of a basement window or on their driveway.
The municipality closed the Atlas Tube Recreation Centre for the day on Friday after the building lost power, one of many outages across Lakeshore.
Residents everywhere should stay away from downed power lines, while drivers are asked not to drive through flooded streets.
Crews in the City of Windsor are already fixing flashing traffic lights. Other workers are restoring lights blown backwards in Thursday night's strong winds.
Other lights completely lost power in the storm, and Shawna Boakes, the city's director of traffic operations, said workers will have to wait until Enwin restores electricity before resetting them.
Windsor has 300 traffic lights across the city. Boakes couldn't say how many were impacted but said lights are out in big pockets in the east end, south end, near the University of Windsor, and in random spots across the city.
She said crews hope to have most lights restored before noon, although it could be Thursday afternoon before all of them are operating again.
At the height of power outages in the city, 20,000 Enwin Utilities customers were in the dark.
Enwin crews worked through the night to remove obstructions, restore feeders, and get the power back on, but there are still about 1,000 customers without electricity.
Neighbourhoods most impacted by power outages included South Windsor, Sandwich, Riverside, and Pillette Village.
Windsor's 311 Call Centre took 260 reports about downed or damaged trees, signifying widespread tree damage across the city.
There were fewer calls for flooded basements. There were five reports about that and another seven for overflowing roads and catch basins.
Elsewhere in Windsor, officials at Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare chose to close the Regional Children's Centre because of "significant storm damage."
Children or youth in crisis who are under 16 can go to the Windsor Regional Hospital Met Campus, while those over 16 should go to the Ouellette Campus.
Despite some scary videos and photos of a possible tornado over LaSalle, Mayor Crystal Meloche said damage in her town was minimal.
Meloche said while a few residents experienced flooding and there were trees that lost branches, no roads were closed.
Western University's Northern Tornadoes Project will send a team to the area to determine if storm damage was the result of a tornado.
Leamington, likewise, had limited damage. Mayor Hilda MacDonald reported the power was out for five hours, yet residential sump pumps kept up with the flow of water.
On Friday afternoon, the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) extended its flood warning till at least noon Sunday, due to the additional rain that fell. The warning had been in effect for Essex, Kingsville, Lakeshore, Leamington, and Pelee Island. All other communities are still under a flood watch that will also expire Sunday.
