Flood warnings overtake usual snowfall records around Hamilton area

While it may be late January, rainfall levels are three times that of what usual winters bring to the Hamilton-Niagara region.

Flood watches have recently been issued for parts of Hamilton, Halton, Niagara and Haldimand County as unseasonably warm temperatures have drastically increased the snowmelt throughout the area.

Some areas in those regions have recently seen up to 30 millimetres of rain in recent days.

Sue and Mike Chrysler live in Smithsville, just outside of Grimsby, and they woke up early Sunday morning to the noise of heavy rushing water.

“I woke up in the morning and it was [just after] sun up and the fog was just so eerie and creepy and the water had crept right up to the wall and it was kind of scary,” said Sue.

Warm temperatures, melting snow, and rain have contributed to flooding. Water levels have remained high this weekend, especially in creeks and rivers.

Sue says she is concerned about her neighbour’s crops that grow corn.

“A lot of the fields around here are flooded, the farmer’s fields.”

Water-logged roads and pathways have even caused some backyard and basement flooding.

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David Philips from Environment Canada has been actively monitoring the situation.

“Rainfall is almost three times what it normally would get. It is far exceeding snowfall, which not often you see that in the winter time, snowfall is down, but any that has fallen has melted,” says Philips