Highlights:

• There is currently flooding along Erie Shore Drive in Chatham-Kent, with water on the roadway at several locations.
• The public is asked to avoid the area to ensure emergency services can access the area if required.
• Gale Warning, Freezing Spray Warning and Special Weather Statement still in effect.
• Risk of freezing spray and freezing of floodwaters starting late this afternoon.
• Flooding predicted to last until at least late afternoon, possibly through Thursday morning if the winds do not shift far enough west.

Message:

There is currently flooding along Erie Shore Drive in Chatham-Kent. Standing water is building up on around 35 properties. There is also standing water on the roadway in multiple locations and water is flowing across the roadway at one location at the east end of the road.

There are various weather messages related to the winds and waves that have been issued by Environment Canada, including a Special Weather Statement, a Gale Warning and a Freezing Spray Warning. The Special Weather Statement is calling for strong winds gusting between 70 and 80 km/hr this afternoon into this evening. The Gale Warning suggests that sustained wind speeds could reach around 75 km/hr on the open waters of Lake Erie by around noon today. The Freezing Spray Warning recognizes that temperatures are predicted to drop beneath freezing late this afternoon and suggest that the most likely time for freezing spray begins around midnight tonight and lasts through Thursday afternoon.

Flooding along Erie Shore Drive is predicted to get worse into the late afternoon. Winds are then predicted to slowly drop off but could remain strong enough to keep the flooding going until Thursday around noon. Some forecasts suggest that winds will switch more westerly in the late afternoon today which would lessen or stop the flooding depending on how far west they switch. If winds don’t switch far enough west, conditions could become more dangerous due to the predicted drop in temperature which could lead to freezing wave spray and freezing floodwaters on properties and on the roadway.

The general public is being asked to avoid the area to ensure that emergency services can access the area if required. The waves on the lakes can be strong, and the shoreline slippery. Freezing wave spray can lead to icy, dangerous conditions. There could also be hazardous debris within the waves and water which could be thrown onto the shoreline. Standing water can also present unseen hazards. Children especially should be kept away from the water.

The previously issued Flood Watch remains in effect for other shoreline areas.

This message will be in effect until the evening of January 6, 2022.

Message Contact: Jason Wintermute ([email protected])