Friel also gave notice the city would be seeking provincial emergency funding to help recover from what he called an “extraordinary” and unprecedented flood. Thousands of Brantford residents started heading home Thursday to assess the damage to houses evacuated amid unprecedented February flooding along the Grand River. “The Grand River is a flooding river; we’re used to it,” Friel said after telling nearly 5,000 residents evacuated Wednesday that it was safe to go home. Some residents complained online that the city could have done more to stave off flooding in some neighbourhoods. Farther down the Grand, ice from the Caledonia dam to Port Maitland had left the river, said Dwight Boyd, Grand River Conservation Authority director of engineering, at a news conference Thursday.

Source: thestar February 22, 2018 17:26 UTC