A flood warning will remain in effect longer for Rice Lake and the Trent River from Hastings to Trenton – and Lower Trent Conservation has also issued a flood watch statement for local creeks in the watershed region.
The watch is for areas stretching from Grafton to Quinte West and from Lake Ontario to Rice Lake and east to Centre Hastings.
A flood watch is issued when there is potential for flooding to occur in low-lying areas and when nuisance or minor flooding of driveways, access roads, backyards, basements and the like is anticipated. A flood warning is issued when flooding is starting and/or occurring or when more serious flooding is possible, explained Lower Trent.
A flood warning was previously issued for the Trent River but will now remain in place until May 1 (unless updated again.)
The Trent River system is in full spring freshet, and significant precipitation is still anticipated over coming days, noted officials, in their updated alerts Thursday.
Meanwhile, the forecast and sustained precipitation over the previous week is also causing widespread elevated stream flows. These elevated flows and saturated ground conditions may also lead to increased runoff into local streams and further increase flows over time, explained Lower Trent.
Municipalities and the public should be aware that localized inundation is possible in urban areas where storm drains may not be able to handle the rainfall, added officials.
There’s also potential for thunderstorms to further increase total precipitation in localized areas.
