Page 6 - CambridgeLookingBackNeat

CAMBRIDGE: LOOKING BACK

Flood brought the

community together

CITY OF CAMBRIDGE ARCHIVES PHOTOS

GRAND RIVER CONSERVATION AUTHORITY PHOTO

The Grand River flood in 1974 is an event In his extensive 90-plus page report, Judge Leach meticulously
entrenched in the memory of many long-time outlined the events of that day, including what he referred to as a
“breakdown in communications” involving the Waterloo Regional
Cambridge residents. Police detachment in Cambridge-Galt and the fact it received “no
What began as a sunny Friday that May 17th would end in disaster notice from Regional Police Headquarters, the GRCA, or from the
but also highlight the power of community spirit when a 50-mm city.”
rainfall across the top of the Grand River watershed after the He wrote: “At approximately twelve noon on May 17th the Chamber
spring melt resulted in floodwaters spilling into downtown Galt of Commerce phoned about a possible flood. The Staff Sergeant
and communities further south. dispatched a constable to check the river levels. Upon receiving
“It was deceiving,” wrote the Hon. Judge W.W. Leach in his Royal advice that the river was rising quickly, the office started calling
Commission Inquiry into the Grand River Flood 1974 report. “The merchants that were on the flood list.”
citizens did not realize the approaching catastrophe. They did The report also states the general manager of the Chamber of
not visualize the flood that was descending upon them from the Commerce, the late Don Faichney, had learned of the flood
north.” around 11 a.m. that day and contacted the GRCA who advised him
According to a 2014 piece in the Grand River Conservation that at least two feet of water would spill over the Grand River
Authority’s GrandActions newsletter, when the rain hit there retaining walls downtown. He asked if police had a ‘loud hailer’
wasn’t much that could be done since its reservoirs were already (megaphone) to inform residents of the impending disaster. The
full and by 7 p.m. that night, the Grand River was rushing through police did not have one.
downtown Galt at a rate of 1,490 cubic metres per second, nearly Instead, the report describes how several police officers
100 times the normal summer flow. Dikes located in Bridgeport converged downtown and went door-to-door to warn people
and Brantford gave way and for a time, the water treatment plant and assisted with traffic and business owners in difficulty. Among
in Brantford was temporarily knocked out creating a state of them was the Const. Jack Shuttleworth, whose photo – snapped by
emergency. The floodwaters engulfed parts of Paris, Caledonia, a photographer from The Hamilton Spectator - standing stoically
Cayuga and Dunnville, and left about four feet (1.2 metres) of outside a business at the corner of Ainslie and Dickson streets in
water filling Galt’s downtown core.

6 Summer 2023 www.cambridgechamber.com