Water levels in Ottawa, surrounding areas, expected to stabilize over the weekend

After major rainfall over the last few days, flood levels in Ottawa and surrounding areas are now expected stabilize into the weekend.

The Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board said on Thursday, May 4, that levels and flows have peaked at Mattawa and Pembroke but are expected to continue rising elsewhere.

Water levels are expected to peak Friday, May 5, at Lake Coulonge from Chats Lake down to the Hawkesbury and Grenville area.

The board added that water levels and flows are expected to stabilize over the weekend and should start to decline slowly next week as sunnier weather is in the forecast.

But the flood levels have prompted some communities in the Upper Ottawa Valley to declare states of emergency because of flood risks.

On Wednesday, May 3, the Whitewater Region declared a state of emergency because water levels were backed up along most of the township’s riverbanks. Neil Nicholson, Whitewater Region’s mayor, added that a couple of private roads were also backed up with high water levels, making it challenging for emergency responders to pass through.

Nicholson noted that roughly 100 homes near the Pembroke area, are either “cut off or surrounded by water,” and some have started to flood.

Further upstream, the Mattawa region, has also been under a state of emergency since Tuesday, May 2. Mayor Raymond Belangersays said he’s been meeting daily with the town’s emergency committee.

Meanwhile, residents living along the Ottawa River and other flood-prone areas are continuing to fill sandbags and monitoring their properties.

In the Cumberland area, residents and volunteers have been filling sandbags and operating their sump pumps over the last few days, according to Matthew Luloff, the councillor for Orleans East-Cumberland.

“We managed to help out the people that are heavily affected,” Coun. Luloff told CityNews on Thursday, May 4. “There was one gentleman who had his whole basement flooded with water, and after the efforts by the volunteers, we were able to pump it out.”

He explained the water was so deep, that he stood in his hip waders and the water reached his belly-button. The councillor is hoping the weather holds out and water levels decrease in the coming days. “But we are ready to go again if the water comes up again. We are always ready to put on the rubber boots and get out there and make it happen,” said Luloff.

With files from The Canadian Press