“The plan to sandbag would be quite a large project for us and
at this point a lot of the areas that are along those shorelines are
experiencing a lot of wave action so we don’t feel we’d be able to build
something substantial enough to combat that wave action.”

Those
short-term concerns are matched by longer-term fears the city’s
waterfront trails may need to be moved or elevated away from low-lying
areas to protect them frequent floods that have caused serious damage in
recent years.

Authorities in Toronto announced Thursday afternoon that Lake Ontario water levels have hit 76.03 metres above sea level, topping
the previous record of 75.93 metres set in 2017. Staff there have
responded by deploying thousands of sandbags and dozens of super-sized
sump pumps.

In Hamilton all that water is making its presence
known by overrunning and damaging popular trails along the lake. Closer
to the city centre, portions of parking lots near the harbour have been
transformed into giant puddles with pumps working hard to keep the
pavement above the surface.