VIDEO ERCA says Flood Mapping Imperative with Waters Rising
By Gord Bacon
Flooding continues to be a hot topic in Essex County.
With shoreline areas throughout the region under water, the Essex Regional Conservation Authority (ERCA) returned to Essex Town Council on Monday night.
Area waterways are now 1-metre above the norm for this time of year and 6-inches above ERCA's worst case scenario for testing purposes.
Tim Byrne says water levels usually plateau in July, but another 3 to 6-inches is projected to make its way through the region from Lake Superior.
He tells AM800 News more than 10,000 homes and millions of dollars of infrastructure are already located in flood mapped areas — but that area hasn't been updated since the '70s and a lot has changed.
Byrne's hoping every community in Windsor-Essex gets on board with creating a "war chest" of funds to secure government grants.
"These events that we're seeing occur, lake levels, rainfall events, storm events, that all needs to be thrown into these models," he says. "These models need to be updated and updated hazard lands and hazard assessments need to be completed."