The flooding that many people anticipated this winter has started.
There are new flood watches and warnings in several areas, and homeowners are starting to get ready for rising water.
“$105,000.”
That's how much Lina Boys had to spend the last time her home flooded.
“We know what's going to happen so we're protecting ourselves,” she says.
Boys and her neighbours have been in the same situation before. In 2008, the Talbot River overflowed, submerging lawns and filling basements with water.
“It was awful,” says Nancy Mitchell. “I panicked. I came home with three kids in the car and my house was an island. No warning, no recourse.”
Officials expect this flood to be just as bad for these residents as that one six years ago. But this time around, there’s a big difference: they've been given warning.
“The Trent Severn waterway has been pretty proactive they let us know they were removing logs along the Talbot river,” says Ramara Township Fire Chief Dave McCarthy.
Ramara Township has provided about a dozen residents in Gamebridge with sand, shovels, and bags. McCarthy has also been going door-to-door letting residents know what's happening.
“Water is going to come in,” he says. “I hear stuff breaking in the river right now and we've seen docks float by. It's coming.”
At some homes, the water has already arrived. And McCarthy worries this may just be the beginning.
“That's my concern right now, especially in the north at the Black (River) because snow melt that has to go on up there still,” he says. “So fingers crossed for some cool nights that will slow down the flow.”
Parks Canada says they are closely monitoring water levels and are deciding daily whether to remove or replace logs in dams.
The hope is that water levels will start to recede in a couple of days.
