Windsor-Essex flood response keeping city crews busy

Municipal crews throughout Windsor andEssex Countywere swamped Thursday helping residents battle severe flooding after record rainfall hit the region.

Fire and police services in Windsorand Tecumsehasked residents to avoid driving on flooded roads and urged residents to avoid calling for service with non-life threatening issues.

• Heavy rain flooding Windsor roads for morning commute
• ERCA updates flood warning, includes Lakeshore, Tecumseh and Windsor

Tecumsehfire officials saythey responded to about 30 flood calls Thursday. They called in help from theEssexfire department in order to keep up with demand.

Rainfall levels were the highest on record for several areas, includingTecumsehwhere officials reportedgetting 150 millimetres.

"I've never seen anything that intense in the 35 years I've been in the region," said TecumsehMayor Gary McNamara. "This is unprecedented."

Windsor's311 service centre wasoverwhelmedwith calls about flooding issues. Officials asked the public to avoid using the service for non-flooding issues.

"Callers to 311 are asked to have patience as all lines are often busy," according to a news release issue by the city."Operators are working hard to work through each call as quickly as possible and open up lines for new callers."

Windsor police have closed off a number of roads until water recedes and is asking residents todrive cautiously.

Other areas felt the rush of the flood as well with the Town of LaSalleshuttingdown all of its sports fields.