TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford visited St. Catharines and nearby Lincoln on Wednesday to assess damage from severe flooding that prompted both municipalities to declare states of emergency.Ford met with St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe and other local officials, including fire Chief Dave Upper, and toured impacted areas such as a collapsing embankment in Port Dalhousie. In a social media post, the premier said he heard “directly from workers and community members impacted by the recent flooding.”The region was hit by consecutive extreme rainfall events, first on July 27 and 28 and again on Aug. 2, with an earlier storm on July 21 contributing to saturated ground. Officials say the storms delivered roughly a quarter of the Niagara Region’s typical annual precipitation in less than a week, inundating thousands of homes and businesses.Siscoe, whose own basement flooded more than once, had been critical of the pace of provincial and federal response, saying the city was left to “fend for itself.” After the meeting he said he was encouraged and hoped it would lead to faster disaster support going forward. “The biggest frustration is that it seems to take way too long to get the actual boots on the ground,” he said..A spokesperson for Ontario’s Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response said the province is assessing the floods against eligibility requirements for its disaster recovery assistance program. Provincial volunteers through Ontario Corps were expected to begin assisting vulnerable residents with cleanup as early as Thursday.The flooding also affected Niagara’s wine country. Vineyard owners reported overwhelmed drainage systems, standing water among grapevines, and damage to buildings and labels, though most said the timing ahead of harvest limited long-term crop losses.Additional after-effects continued to emerge Wednesday, including sinkholes on Geneva Street and eroding embankments that local officials warned could threaten nearby properties.Ford’s visit comes as municipalities press for both immediate cleanup help and longer-term support for infrastructure that was overwhelmed by the volume of rain..WATCH: Niagara region battered by back-to-back storms as flooding forces emergency declaration
