flooded again: windsor homeowners say they're running out of hope after torrential weekend rain
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.john james cleans garbage and damaged property out of the basement of his bliss road home on monday, july 6, 2026, after his basement flooded in a massive rain storm a day earlier.
trevor wilhelm
ditches overflowed, water poured across front lawns, and family treasures floated in basements — again.
for some frustrated windsor residents, the flooding brought on by torrential rain over the weekend has become such a painful tradition they can’t get insurance.
wayne bondy, in the 3800 block of bliss road, is thinking about moving after his fifth flood in 15 years.
“i’ve lost so much,” said bondy. “i’ve lost a 6,000-record collection, multiple exercise machines, family photos. i had to rip up my walls three feet from the floor. i just left them up because i’m tired of doing it over and over again.”
from friday to monday, the city of windsor received more than 500 calls about downed trees and flooded homes.
david simpson, the city engineer and commissioner of infrastructure, said most of the flooding calls came from the remington park, south windsor, devonshire heights, fontainebleau, and riverside areas.
“they are somewhat prone to flooding given their low-lying elevations,” said simpson. “that’s exactly why we’re working to upgrade and expand our stormwater system infrastructure citywide.”
the weekend of chaotic weather began friday with a powerful thunderstorm and hammering winds that snapped tree trunks and took down power lines. fallen trees blocked roads, and people across the region temporarily lost power.
bliss road residents marty ricciotti, left, and russ mann talk about drain pipes and weeping tiles in the basement of ricciotti’s home on monday, july 6, 2026, after multiple houses in the neighbourhood flooded during a rain storm a day earlier
trevor wilhelm
on sunday, relentless rain took over. the essex region conservation authority issued a flood watch sunday night after more than 30 mm of rain was recorded in 12 hours, with another 50 mm expected.
flooding also forced the canadian aviation museum to close monday and tuesday. president john robinson said the museum floor, which is about 160 feet long and 100 feet wide, was under several inches of water.
no planes were damaged, but there was a mess.
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“it all came up through our drains and through the doors,” he said. “they could not handle the amount of water.”
parts of bliss road, near cabana road, were also submerged.
crews and volunteers at the canadian aviation museum move out the plans and clean the museum floor on tuesday, july 7, 2026, after torrential rains flooded the museum two days earlier.
trevor wilhelm
“you can walk straight across the street from my home to my neighbour’s home and have five inches of water above your ankles,” said bondy, who also had several inches of water in his basement.
“it has nowhere to go.”
some if it flowed into john james’ house.
“water was coming out of everywhere,” said james, who endured his second flood in six years. “walls, cracks, whatever. it was coming in from every direction.”
if was the fourth flood for marty ricciotti, who has lived on bliss since 1994. he learned a few lessons along the way.
“the first time we replaced the carpet, did all that,” said ricciotti. “the second time, we didn’t bother putting in new carpet.”
on sunday, he had four or five inches of water in the basement.
“a lot of stuff is in bins, and you can see they floated and tipped over, and sunk,” said ricciotti.
kevin davies, facilities manager at the canadian aviation museum, mops up on monday, july 6, 2026, after the museum flooded during a rain storm the previous night.
trevor wilhelm
multiple residents in the area say they’re frustrated after repeated complaints, municipal strategies and meetings with city officials have seemingly created no solutions.
simpson pointed out the city is moving ahead with the $5-billion 2020 sewer master plan. he said the current city council has committed more than $400 million to increase capacity to increase “flooding resiliency.”
but he acknowledged relief could be years away for many residents in a plan that will unfold “over the next couple of decades.”
“there are large scale investments coming over time to either increase the diameter or size of the stormwater trunk stores, as well as putting in more pumping capacity at the various stations,” he said.
but the promises don’t hold much water for residents facing more insurance headaches and costly cleanups.
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“they’re trying to put rhinestones on a pig covered in dirt,” said russ mann. “the city has said how many times with how many meetings and how many studies that they’re going to fix this.”
for mann and wendy hart, who live next door to bondy, sunday marked their third flood since buying the house in 2014. they’re currently on their third set of washers and dryers.
like most people in the neighbourhood, everything in their basement is either stored in plastic bags or sit on shelves above the floor.
“christmas tree is in the box, in a big garbage bag,” said hart. “the air filters for the furnace sit on the floor, but they’re in a big garbage bag.”
with the risk of losing insurance coverage, residents must get creative.
“they say we’re only allowed one, make it worth it,” said james. “so, we haven’t made the call. we’ve just been dealing with it out of our own pocket to fix whatever needs to be done.”
but for him, money isn’t the main concern.
“it’s the memories, like the kids’ drawings, paintings, etc.,” said james. “this time around there was a lot of personal things that can’t be replaced.”
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