Chatham-Kent dealing with high water, again

Residents are accustomed to seeing high water levels in the Thames River but are in awe when it happens.

Residents were seen taking pictures and video around the Fifth Street Bridge Wednesday.

“I have never seen this in my lifetime and it's crazy,” said Lee Mantz, who was making a delivery to Satellite Restaurant from London. He normally goes through the back door of the satellite restaurant but he couldn't Wednesday.

“I'm probably just going to have to drive around the front, go in the front door and deliver it because there's no access,” Mantz said while chuckling.

Satellite Restaurant bartender Barb Withington said the water rose a bit in the three hour period she was at work.

“The water line was down quite a bit. It looks to me like it's creeped up the sidewalk probably about ten feet since I've been here,” she said.

The Satellite Restaurant has installed sand bags to impede the water if it rises to an uncomfortable level. “Our guests come in and for the most part it's something to talk about. They come out here and view it. It's just a thing we've done and we've gotten through it every time.”

The Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority has issued a flood warning for the Thames River in Chatham-Kent. It is in effect until April 7.

Officials at the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority say the water is the result of all the rain that has fallen towards the London area.

“Essentially the Thames River is a big watershed,” said Jason Wintermute, manager of watershed and information services. “It has its head waters upstream of the City of London and communities like St. Mary's, Woodstock, Stratford.”

Wintermute says that rain water typically takes three days to reach the Thames.

“The rain started on Friday and this is actually the result with a couple of additions of rain on Monday that added to this and boosted the water levels,” he said.

Wintermute hasn’t seen the Thames reach the current level since before 2020. A lot of debris is being picked up along the way and building up.

“The municipality was out here just this morning clearing debris from this bridge here,” he said pointing to the Fifth Street Bridge.

Wintermute feels the river peaked Wednesday morning and is now expected to experience a slow decline. However, any rain that falls Wednesday into Thursday could have an impact.

“It's really a matter of how much rain we get and how much that overcomes the natural drop that's occurring now,” he said.