Rain and warm temperatures could lead to localized flooding

By Trish Bauder

BELLEVILLE – Quinte Conservation says there could be some localized flooding in the area as a result of warm temperatures and rain this week.

Christine McCleur, the organization’s water resources manager, says that water levels are still normal and haven’t risen.

According to Environment Canada, 25 to 40 mm of rain is expected by earlier this week.

McCleur says that they don’t respond to any flood watches or warnings, but at times like this they issue out water safety statements.

“Quinte Conservation doesn’t actually respond. We just issue water safety statements for flood outlooks, flood watches and flood warnings and the level of severity that we expect on the river systems.”

Right now, there’s a possibility of flooding in small local creeks and ditches.

“Currently there aren’t any risks for the major rivers. So the Moira, Salmon and Napanee rivers, we don’t expect the water to overtop the banks and cause damage. But there could be issues in little lying areas in urban systems,” says McCleur.

The Quinte Conservation  is urging the public to be extremely cautious around waterways.

“Make sure your sump pump is in working order that’s number one and if you do have stuff that you store in your basement and you anticipate in basement flooding you should move that to another floor or lift it off the ground so that it doesn’t get damaged.”

They are also urging the community to be very careful of stream banks, they can be quite slippery with the snow the ice and the rain. The water is flowing a bit faster so you don’t want to get in that really icy pool of water.