from The Evening Guide  Wednesday March 28, 1906
There was more excitement in town last evening than we have seen for some time and there was certainly good reason for it. The heavy downpour of rain which lasted all day and the mild weather combined caused the Ganaraska River to rise and finally overflow its banks.

Early yesterday morning the river was a raging torrent and all day it continued to swell. Finally Gray's Dam at Garden Hill gave way and a portion of McCallum's Bridge at Dale was carried off.

About 5:30 in the evening the water and ice came along with a great rush and the foot bridge on Walton Street including that portion between the concrete walks was swept away. The large crowd which was standing nearby at the time had a narrow escape and many received quite a drenching.

The water rushed over the driveway and the stores on the south side of the bridge were badly flooded. The occupants were obliged to vacate them and the furniture and goods were badly damaged. By six o'clock the water had risen to such a height that it was impossible to cross any part of the bridge.
Ontario Street was in a similar state from the bridge near the Ontario House to Walton street. The water was fully two feet deep and large blocks of ice were sailing about in all directions.

Cavan street almost as far south as Walton street was impassable, and persons who had to cross to the eastern section of the town were at a loss to know how to make it. When the employees of the different institutions started for home the crowd witnessed considerable sport. It was impossible to cross the railway track at Walton Street without getting into water over your boot tops.

A portion of the Walton street bridge had gone, and Mill Street looked like a young river. Persons desirous of reaching Protestant Hill began to figure out how they were to make it, and a number of them crossed the viaduct. William McConnell, however, arrived at an opportune moment with his waggon and conveyed several loads over the Ontario Street bridge. At 6:30 the water was rushing down the north side of the walk on Walton street and it was a case of getting up on the hill if you wished to keep dry.

The Trenouth and Jarrell livery stable came in for quite a flooding and the horses had to be all removed to different quarters. The stables at the Ontario House were also cleared.

The damage was very large. Every cellar on the north side of Walton street from the railway to the foot of the street was badly flooded. A large quantity of sheeting and factory cotton in the store cellar of John Wickett & Son was considerably damaged. The stable of Mr John Jordan at the rear of his store was completely gutted and a large quantity of timber carried away. His store house was also badly flooded and over seven hundred pounds of sugar spoiled.

On Ontario street the water flowed freely and Mr W McGibbon, hardware merchant on this street, is probably the heaviest loser in town. The cellar of the store was full and about ten inches flowed about upstairs. The oil barrels and nail kegs sailed about downstairs and today Mr McGibbon is minus four barrels of oil and there are about one hundred kegs of nails badly damaged.

Walker's upholstering department came in for its share and the floor is all torn up and everything disarranged.

Sid Hawkins had five good inches on his floor, but his goods were very little damaged.

The Ontario House was just in the position where it would get its share. The cellar was filled and one barrel of whiskey and several jars of fruit were swept away.

The cellar of Robert Deyell's drug store was also flooded and Mr Deyell suffered considerable loss thereby.

On Cavan Street there was scarcely a cellar that escaped being flooded. At the present time there is enough ice in Sculthorpe's yard to supply several houses for the summer. The foundry here was badly drenched and their loss is heavy. Chalk's Carriage Works by no means escaped the swell, but as Mr Chalk said this morning, they were very fortunate. The posts supporting the store house just opposite the works, were carried away but fortunately the large pieces of ice drifted in and took the place of the posts. There was about $3,000 worth of stock in the building at the time and had it not been for the ice lodging under the building it would have been all carried down.

The little brick house just north of the Ontario Street bridge and on the west side of the railway track was surrounded with water and the furniture floated about quite handily.

Mrs Thomas Hills remained in the house until nearly six o'clock when she was obliged to leave. She was taken from the house to the railway track by means of a ladder but this made a very unsteady walk and Mrs Hills toppled over into the water before she reached the end.

There was five-and-a-half feet of water on the flour mill floor at Barrett's but the damage in the stock is slight. Mr S Squires and daughter and Mr W J Scott and daughter were in the mill when the rush of water came down and they were unable to leave until 9 o'clock and then got out on horseback.

About 7:30 o'clock the flow gradually lessened and at 11 o'clock the different streets were passable.