Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre has declared a state of emergency due to the ongoing risk of flooding in the city.

“What we’re hearing from Conservation Sudbury is that this will get higher to even levels that we have never seen before,” Lefebvre said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. 

Lefebvre said declaring a state of emergency is a precautionary measure that gives the city tools it can use such as mobilizing the Red Cross.

In cases where water levels could affect public safety, Lefebvre said the city could also enforce mandatory evacuations. 

Greater Sudbury Fire Services Chief Rob Grimwood said people should watch for signs including “flooding inside your home [that] has resulted in water rising above electrical outlets, water on the outside of your home has risen above your gas metre.”

Carl Jorgensen, the general manager of Conservation Sudbury, said at the press conference there remains significant snowpack in the watershed north of the city.

“Sudbury really is at the bottom end of a slope, and so all of that snow will make its way through the city in one way or another,” he said.

Jorgensen said cooler temperatures over the weekend and early in the week did lessen the impact of flooding in some local watercourses.

“But I think we have a lot yet to come through the big rivers,” he added.

Jorgensen said those big rivers, such as the Vermillion, feed into areas such as McCharles Lake and Simon Lake that are at a greater risk of flooding over the next two weeks.

He said areas along the Whitson River, such as parts of Chelmsford, are also at risk of flooding. 

Jorgensen said Sudbury is on track to surpass historic high water levels set in Timmins in 1961. 

 “It would be precedent-setting for this area,” he said.