City remains under a flood watch
Hamilton creeks are running high amid fast-melting snow and steady rain that prompted widespread flooding in areas closer to the Grand River.
Conservation authorities of Niagara, Grand River and Hamilton are warning residents about dangerously swollen watercourses and ponds that have sucked up a steady diet of rain and rapid snow melt caused by record-high February temperatures this week.
The watery one-two punch spurred road closures Tuesday due to flooding in Wellington County and Waterloo Region. Hamilton roads remained mostly clear as of Tuesday evening.
“Water levels are certainly high and we’re keeping a very close eye on things,” said Jonathan Bastien, a water resource engineer with the Hamilton Conservation Authority.
“But we haven’t seen significant flooding in critical areas like roads, in buildings or on school properties.”
Bastien said agency workers have noted some ponding in “expected” locations such as lowlying rural residential properties, farm fields or woodlots.
He stressed residents should stay away from swollen, slippery creeks and pond banks — and off of rapidly melting natural ice.
The city is also watching for overland flooding given the limited ability of saturated or frozen ground to absorb the rain and melting snow, said city spokesperson Aisling Higgins.
She said city workers were “proactively inspecting flooding hot spots” and clearing catchbasins along the Red Hill Valley Parkway, near underpasses and culverts.
As of late Tuesday, no roads had been closed as a result of flooding.
Pooling water was reported in low-lying parks like Eastwood, including in the parking lot, as well as in the Globe Park offleash dog park. Higgins said the city is asking residents to avoid the dog park until it dries out.
No major issues were reported in the city’s sewer system, which last year was forced to dump untreated sewage into Red Hill Creek on several occasions during the worst of spring flooding.
The city was unable to say how many homeowners, if any, had reported basement flooding Tuesday night.
Bastien said Hamilton will likely remain under a flood watch until Friday.
But he expressed hope that the influx of water into local creeks will slow now that most of the snow has melted. About five to 10 additional millimetres of rain is forecast through Wednesday.