The Grand River Conservation Authority has issued one new flood warning for the village of Conestoga, and has upgraded its flood warning in West Montrose and Ayr as of Monday morning.

In Conestoga, water levels in the Grand and Conestogo Rivers are expected to increase, with flooding likely in low-lying areas.

In West Montrose, the flood warning has been increased to Zone 2 properties by midday.

In Ayr, river flows are expected to rise, with homes in Zone 3 being warned that flooding is possible.

Properties along waterways are listed from Zones 1 to 5, with Zone 1 being the most likely to flood.

The conservation authority says previous flood warnings remain in effect including for:

• Grand Valley, where homeowners are warned the “risk from rapid increases in water levels due to ice jams remains high.”
• St. Jacobs in low-lying areas.
• New Hamburg, where water levels have peaked at zone two, but the flood risk remains high.
• Drayton, where homes in zone one have been notified.
• Brant County including from Glen Morris to Paris, and levels may rise between Paris and Onondaga during the day on Monday. The Nith River in Paris has also reached zone two levels.
• City of Brantford, where river flows are expected to reach zone three levels Monday.

A flood watch remains in effect for the rest of the Grand River watershed.

‘Considerable flooding and damage’ in New Hamburg

Roads in New Hamburg were closed on Sunday due to high water levels. Norm Hill Park was under water, with water reaching the grandstand.

Meredith Hagen was out looking at the rising waters of the Nith River on Sunday morning.

“I saw water in the street and now it’s been slowly keep creeping up my driveway,” she said.

Peter Gruhl, who has lived in New Hamburg for more than 30 years, was surprised by how quickly the water rose.

“The water has come up a lot in the short period of time,” he said. “There’s some considerable flooding and damage done.”

The flooding is due to warm weather melting snow and some rain over the weekend.

“The air temperature is expected to remain above zero [on Monday] approaching 14 C in the northern part of the watershed and will remain above freezing until Wednesday night, which will continue melting the remaining snowpack,” the conservation authority said in its latest message Monday morning.

“Between 30 and 40 millimetres of rain is forecast beginning Tuesday … into Wednesday. River levels are elevated and additional runoff from snowmelt will cause river flows to increase.”

High flows, unstable ice increase safety risk

People are reminded to stay away from banks of rivers, streams and lakes.

“High flows and unstable ice conditions will increase the safety risk around rivers and streams throughout the watershed,” the authority said.

“The public is reminded to stay off ice-covered waterbodies due to unsafe conditions.”

The warning about ice also comes after police had to rescue 23 people from an ice flow on Sunday in Georgian Bay. The Grey-Bruce Ontario Provincial Police say the people were walking on an ice shelf when it broke away from shore and drifted out two kilometres. The ice flow then broke into several sections, which caused some people to go into the water.

Several emergency crews including local fire departments, paramedics and officers with Wellington County OPP assisted in the rescue. Police say minor injuries were reported, including hypothermia, but all are expected to make a full recovery.