WCDR, Team Rubicon, city mobilizing flood response

WEST CARLETON – As it always does since its inception in 2017, West Carleton Disaster Relief (WCDR) is on the case.

The volunteers of WCDR have mobilized in response to rising waters along the Ottawa River, and they have some help coming with them including the City of Ottawa, emergency response volunteer organization Rubicon and a sandbag filling machine from Toronto.

On Friday (April 25) evening, Ward 5 Coun. Clarke Kelly told West Carleton Online from the annual Carp Fair Ladies Night, city staff were expecting the Ottawa River to rise to levels similar to 2023. On Saturday (April 26), he was in Constance Bay leading the city’s flood activities.

West Carleton didn’t get the forecasted 25 millimetres of rain that was expected, with Ottawa Weather Stats saying just under nine mm has fallen since April 24, but the community is still expecting the Ottawa River to rise, and flood preparedness is in full force. 

“Today was a busy day in Ward 5 as I, along with city staff and WCDR spent all day assessing the situation and preparing a plan for the days ahead as the water continues to rise along the Ottawa River,” Kelly released in a statement yesterday (April 26). “The sandbag machine has arrived from Toronto and is already in use, and members of Team Rubicon are busy filling bags. Today, we distributed 6,000 filled sandbags to locations close to areas that have flooded historically.”

While everyone in West Carleton knows who WCDR is, a completely volunteer run aid organization that looks to educate as well as respond to disasters within the West Carleton community. Loosely founded in 2017 under a different name, the organization has been very busy assisting in flood support in 2017, 2019 and 2023 as well as tornado response in 2018. When there isn’t a disaster in West Carleton the organization leads in preparedness education.

“As water continues to rise in the coming days, the City of Ottawa has called in some big guns,” the WCDR released in a statement yesterday. “This sandbag filling machine can fill up to 1,000 sandbags an hour and it is already in action in Constance Bay filling bags that have been staged around West Carleton for your use. We are extremely grateful for the quick action by the city and are excited to see Team Rubicon Canada volunteers have also arrived today to help with the operation.”

For a map of sandbags and sandbag filling locations, click here.

Team Rubicon launched in Canada on May 1, 2016, responding to wildfires around Fort McMurray, AB. Having established a strong and well-known desire to create a Team Rubicon in Canada, a small team of Canadian veterans set to work with their teammates at Team Rubicon USA to assess how to best support the residents impacted by the Fort McMurray wildfire.

“Later in 2016, with this groundswell of support, Team Rubicon Canada was born,” the organization released in a statement. “Canadian veterans, first responders, emergency management personnel and kick-ass civilians have shown they are more than ready to volunteer their skills in support of calls for assistance at home and abroad.”

This isn’t the organization’s first time responding to flooding in West Carleton either.

“If you are in need of sandbags (or would like to volunteer to help please visit www.westcarletonrelief.ca for more information and to register,” WCDR said.

You can also contact the councillor at Clarke.Kelly@ottawa.ca.