A Cambridge family is devastated after losing everything to flooding last week at their home on Clyde Road.
Rayna Podwinski was sitting at home on a normal Wednesday morning on July 17 when she heard a knock at her door.
"My neighbour came up and all I could see was the water rushing into my yard," she said. "I grabbed as many of the high-value things as possible and put them on the second floor."
Podwinski then trudged through knee-high water to grab a canoe. She managed to put her two children in and paddle away to dry land.
As her home, yard and all her family's belongings started to fill with water, she estimates that from when the water started rushing in until she was safe with her boys was 15 minutes.
"I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have that canoe," said Podwinski with a broken voice. "We would have been stranded at that house until someone could have gotten us."
Their home on Clyde Road is only a few hundred meters away from the Shade's Mill Dam which was storing mass amounts of water from a few days of heavy rainfall.
Podwinski notes that she had a Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) officer come by the home to make sure everyone was okay.
"They looked white as ghosts, because they knew they had messed up," she said. "I was told by one of the officers that they had someone new working the dam and they had released it 100 per cent instead of at 20 per cent increments."
Lisa Stocco, communications for the GRCA confirmed that on July 17, Mill Creek received a record amount of rainfall and inflows, which required the operation of the Shade’s Mills dam.
"Operation of the dam followed the GRCA’s approved reservoir operation policies," said Stocco.
She added the GRCA will not be making any further comment to the media on this matter.
This comes at the dismay of Podwinski who has not heard from the GRCA, the landlord or the City of Cambridge since the flooding.
"I really don't know what to do and we don't have anywhere to go," Podwinski said as she tried to hold back tears.
Since the water came from an "outside source" neither the property owner or Podwinski's insurance will cover any damages.
A friend of the family, Donald Lem has been helping them try and get compensation.
"Right now we are communicating with the GRCA to understand what happened and how this can be solved," said Lem.
Lem adds the family is currently looking for legal advice on next steps.
The family has lived in the two-bedroom home for the past seven years and is only paying $900 a month. They are currently staying with a family member out of town while they await next steps to gather their belongings.
"My partner is the only source of income so there's no way we can afford what the rental market is asking for now," said Podwinski. "Our whole life was in that house, my kids were born there."
The home sits directly next to the creek that leads from Shade's Mills to Soper Park. The family has encountered many rain storms in the past and has had the water at the banks of the creek, but never spilled over to the point where water is at their front step.
Podwinski regularly takes her children down by the creek to see nature and to observe any creatures they might find in or near the water. She fears what might have been if she had taken her kids out that morning.
"If we were there when the floodgates opened, my kids would have been swept away by the water," she said. "This just doesn't make sense."
The family will be making the trek back to the flooded home on the weekend to pack and salvage as much as possible.
To the best of Podwinski's knowledge, the home has sat exactly as it was when they left with no fans being put out by the landlord in an attempt to dry the home.
"There is no hydro, no fans the place is covered in bugs it is inhabitable as it is now. I wouldn't be surprised if there is mould growing everywhere," she said.
The hunt for a new place to live has started for the Cambridge family, but it will not be as easy as just sending in an application.
The budget for their next home is around $1,000 a month, so the family is afraid they won't be able to find somewhere to live.
Podwinski's sponsor in recovery has started a GoFundMe page to help raise money to help buy furniture, basic necessities and help bump up their budget for finding a place to live.
"I just feel so hopeless right now. I don't know where to start and it seems like no one, the GRCA or the city is going to help us and we're stuck."
To find out how to donate to the family, visit their GoFundMe page here.
