You can drive west out of St. Thomas again: Fingal Line was open and dry when LocVox drove through the area Saturday morning. But several rural roads branching off it could stay closed for up to two weeks. The Township of Southwold declared a state of emergency at 10:35 a.m. Friday, August 7, after a storm officials are calling a once-in-250-year rainfall event washed out roads and flooded basements, with Shedden and Fingal among the hardest-hit communities, CBC News reported.
Friday’s storm was not the first to hit the township that week. Deputy Mayor Justin Pennings told CTV News London that Fingal was hit by heavy flooding for the second time in a week, after an earlier storm around Tuesday had already exceeded what he called a 1-in-100-year event and dropped four inches or more of rain. He put Friday’s rain at about 145 millimetres, or 5.6 inches, on top of that. Mayor Grant Jones gave CBC News a higher figure for the same Friday storm: roughly 230 millimetres, or about 9.2 inches, in around 90 minutes in parts of the township, a number he attributed to the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority as beyond a 250-year event. Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson described nearly stationary thunderstorms parked over the area between about 5:30 and 9:30 a.m. Friday, producing localized totals over 100 millimetres, and said Environment Canada has not published an official total. The numbers differ because they measure different things in different spots, and none of the officials who gave them have reconciled them into one figure.
Elgin County Warden Dominique Giguère said in a statement Friday that preliminary information indicates the storm was “consistent with what is commonly described as a 250-year rainfall event,” and pledged the county would keep working with Southwold on both response and recovery. She also warned that with more rain in the forecast, conditions could change quickly, a caution echoed by Environment Canada’s own Saturday forecast of a 60 percent chance of showers and a risk of thunderstorms for the area.
Public Works crews were set to begin repairs at 6 a.m. Saturday, the township said, with full restoration of the affected roads expected to take up to two weeks. Access to driveways on Thomas Road has already been restored, though crews plan to return next week to finish repairs there. As of Saturday, Municipal 511 still listed closures on Thomas Road (at Union Road), Burwell Road/McDiarmid Line, McDiarmid Line/Oneida Road, Hunter Line, Bush Line, Oneida Road, a washed-out southbound lane of Mill Road, and the Sixth Line/Lawrence Road intersection. The township is asking drivers to check Municipal 511 before heading out and to never drive through a flooded road.
That list can trail what is actually happening on the ground, in both directions. By mid-morning Saturday, LocVox found Fingal Line completely clear through Fingal, while on Mill Road the washed-out southbound lane was marked off with pylons, the road itself still passable, and floodwater stood in a cornfield beside the road.
For flood-damaged basements, residents are asked to place damaged items at the roadside, with full township-facilitated collection details due Monday, August 10. Basement and property damage itself stays outside the township’s job either way: after the August 2 flooding, Southwold told residents with damaged property to contact their own insurance company, saying “the Township is not involved with private property damage.”
Jones said the declaration matters beyond the paperwork: it gives the township access to additional provincial resources if needed, while crews keep checking roads, culverts and bridges for damage that is not visible yet.
The closures reach into daily life around St. Thomas in smaller ways too. St. Thomas towing operator Doug Medlyn, who runs Medlyn Custom Services, told CBC News his crew had pulled about six vehicles out of flooded roads and driveways by Friday afternoon, some in spots that do not normally flood, with water rising above fire hydrants and halfway up car doors. The Mill Road closure runs to Middle River Road, home to Common Ground Farm, where the Middle River Music Fest is booked for August 29, three weeks off. The 172nd Shedden Fair, set for August 22 and 23 in one of the hardest-hit communities, lands right at the edge of the township’s own two-week repair estimate.
The Kettle Creek Conservation Authority, which watches flood risk for St. Thomas and Port Stanley on a separate watershed, had not posted a new statement since August 2, before this week’s storms, as of Saturday. Conditions there are still worth watching given how much rain the region has already seen this week, with more in Saturday’s forecast.
Sources: Township of Southwold, “State of Emergency” notice, August 7, 2026, Township of Southwold, “Township Office Flooding” notice, August 5, 2026, Elgin County, Statement from Warden Dominique Giguère, August 7, 2026
By Anthony Zruna · About the LocVox Newsroom
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