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OTTAWA-Warm temperatures, fast melting snow and a potentially rainy weekend have Environment Canada meteorologists and conservation authorities worried about flooding in the Ottawa Valley.
Precipitation could total 25 to 30 millimetres starting during the day Friday and ending Saturday night.
Water levels at Tauny Lafleche’s home on Rideau Glen Lane along the Rideau River near Kemptville continued to rise Thursday.
of the water at about 3 a.m. this morning, as it had begun floating away.
Ms. Lafleche has been living on the floodplain for 11 years and has been keeping track of water levels each year.
“We woke up this morning, and it was past all the marks,” she said. “This is the worst it has ever been.”
“We can’t drink the water or shower,” because with levels that high, the water could be contaminated, she said.
The water is less than a foot away from surpassing her deck, which they have been using to let her three dogs and one cat out. They have one step off their deck left above the water. Their house is completely surrounded.
“We’re done for,” she said, if the water levels go over the deck.
Her next door neighbour left before the flooding, but Ms. Lafleche and her husband, Len, don’t want to leave.
“We stay because this is where we live, we can’t just abandon it.”
Meanwhile, her neighbour’s car has filled with more than a foot of water, she said.
Residents on Rideau Glen Lane have been hip-wading through the water on their street to get to their cars, parked at the Rideau Glen Golf Course.
Some, like Michel Morin and Karen Mulder, have been using canoes to get around.
Sindy Carson’s house is mounted higher than the others on Rideau Glen Lane, but she is pumping water out of the shed housing her furnace and hot water tank in her backyard, which is immersed.
She has only lived there for two years, so the flooding is a first-time experience.
But 76-year-old Joe Arcand has seen flooding before at his family cottage on Fairmile Road in south Ottawa.
The cottage, which he has had for about 40 years, sits up on several cement pillars to keep it out of the water. But with the rapid melting and high water levels this year, a chunk of ice recently struck his cottage right off one of the posts.
“They are moving slow, but it is like a bulldozer,” said Mr. Arcand of the floating ice. “It just clears everything in its path.”
Environment Canada’s initial forecast for this weekend predicted light precipitation, including two centimetres of snow.
But if the weather system coming up through Texas picks up extra moisture, it could result in “a potentially dangerous situation with respect to the amount of flooding that could be expected and the number of areas that could be impacted by it,” said Geoff Coulson, a warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment Canada.
“What is being looked at closely is if there is a slight change in the track of the system,” said Mr. Coulson. “The concern being that it will develop a good moisture feed from the Gulf of Mexico … then we could be dealing with precipitation amounts somewhat more than what these initial indications are for the coming weekend.”
Patrick Larson, senior water resources technician at the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, said he expects 20 millimetres of rain Friday after talking with Environment Canada.
“If it’s close to going in the doors by a few centimetres, then they’re in trouble,” he said. “If its 10 to 15 centimetres, then they’re OK, but it will be a close thing.”
Mr. Larson said there are other areas similar to Rideau Glen Lane, like Kars Village.
The amount of flooding and the peak time will depend if precipitation comes in the form of snow or rain, said Mr. Larson. Snow would lessen the intensity and delay the peak, he said. Currently, levels along the Long Reach segment of the Rideau River are 86.65 metres above sea level.
“We’re worried, whether that system comes in or not,” said Gord Mountenay, water management supervisor for Mississippi Valley Conservation.
He doesn’t expect the Mississippi River to peak until late next week. Buildings under his jurisdiction in areas like Clyde River and Dalhousie Lake have a history of flooding, he said.
“There will be some homes that are flooded,” he added.
People in Almonte have begun sandbagging in preparation, he said.
Mr. Coulson said adding more precipitation to the second highest snowfall is definitely not the forecast that conservation authorities would be hoping for.
Even the initially predicted five to 10 millimetres could be bad news for some of the worst-hit areas, he said.
Eric Collard said the City of Ottawa has not had to respond to any flooding yet, and OC Transpo has not had to change any of its routes, but the situation is being monitored.
With Files from Jessey Bird