Hospital spends thousands on 'sandbags' after Windsor flooding

Windsor Regional Hospital has purchased dozens of "sandbags" in preparation for the next "100-year storm" that could send water gushing into inpatient areas again.

• Emergency room at Met Campus reopens after 'significant flooding'

• Flooded Windsor homeowners now eligible for provincial disaster relief

Hospital CEO David Musyj demonstrated the 'Quick Dam' bags during a press conference Friday, placing the black, deflated bags into a pail of water where they began to absorb the liquid, swelling into bricks that could divert floodwaters.

The emergency room at the hospital's Met Campus was temporarily closed on August 29 after a deluge of record-breaking rain caused water to burst out of drains and flood parts of the building.

"All of our drain pipes went in reverse," said Musyj. "Because our Emergency Department is below the parking lot, water was coming into the Emergency Department doors and water was coming up through our various pipes."

Worried staff used linens and blankets to create makeshift dams as they watched the waters rise.

Paramedics were temporarily redirected to the Ouellette campus and patients at the Met campus were sent to the hospital's other location wherever possible.

The hospital was back to offering its regular services the next day.

Musyj said the hospital has already spent $3,000-$4,000 to purchase "hundreds" of the bags and plans to buy more in the hope they'll help make cleanup quicker and protect important equipment when the next flood happens.

"If we think it's never going to happen again for another 100 years we're, in my opinion, fooling ourselves."