After nearly a week of flooding in areas of southwestern Ontario, water levels along on the Thames River are finally starting to recede.
Over the weekend, hundreds of people from Chatham-Kent and nearby Thamesville were asked to voluntarily leave their homes as water levels along the Thames River peaked at more than five metres above normal.
Those affected by the flooding are now starting to see water levels lower.
“We’re hopeful the worst is over,” Bob Crawford, fire chief with Chatham-Kent Fire, told CTV News Channel on Monday. “We’ve got good conditions otherwise. The waters are receding from where they were.”
An evacuation centre for people displaced by the flood closed on Sunday morning.
“We’ve had a lot of people impacted by this,” he said. “In fact, we’re quite concerned about our vulnerable populations.”
John D Bradley Evacuation Centre now closed. Thank you to everyone who helped make the site happen. If you need support as result of flooding, please contact the Municipal Call Centre at 519-360-1998.
— CKEandSS (@CKEandSS) February 25, 2018
Despite the receding flood waters, several roads along the Thames River remain closed and water levels remain high in areas across the township. The fire department is urging residents to stay away from the river and to stand back from areas of standing water.
Water levels still remain high in a number of areas across CK. Please continue to stay back from the river and standing water and obey road closures. https://t.co/LFy0KW0IGb
— CK Fire Department (@ckfiredept) February 26, 2018
Officials are meeting this morning - updates to come. #CKFLOOD2018 pic.twitter.com/7oenzLVoAn
Union Gas is also advising the people of Chatham-Kent against relighting their natural gas appliances and instead waiting for a technician to inspect the appliance before use.
Please do not attempt to relight #NatGas appliances. Household appliances that have been submerged in water should be inspected by a licensed gas technician or heating contractor before being reactivated. If you smell #NatGas, call us at 1-877-969-0999. #ckont #CKFLOOD2018 2/2
— Union Gas (@UnionGas) February 25, 2018
Crawford said a combination of unseasonably warm weather, ice on the Thames River, a large amount of melting snow up river, a recent rainfall and saturated ground in the area have been to blame for what conversation officials have called the worst flooding to hit the region since 1977.
“All the factors came together to give us a very frightening rise to the level of the water,” he said.
With much of the ice and snow now gone from the area, Crawford doesn’t anticipate another flood.
“While we may get some more rain with spring just around the corner, I don’t think we’ll get a surge like we’ve seen,” he said. ”However, we do plan over the course of our year for this type of event and every spring we’re watching,”