A community hit hard by flooding in southwestern Ontario is keeping a state of emergency in place as recovery efforts continue days after heavy rains damaged roads and properties.

The township of Southwold, just south of London, says it has decided to maintain the emergency declaration issued last week even after roads became passable after floodwaters receded.

Southwold officials say they have asked Ontario’s municipal affairs ministry whether any financial support will be available to residents whose properties were damaged in the flooding.

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Environment Canada had issued a special weather statement across much of southwestern Ontario last week, with some areas getting more than 200 millimetres of rain on Friday.

Officials in Southwold say residents whose properties were damaged in the Friday flooding should contact the township for information that “may help with accessing the financial support program.”

They say the restoration work will continue for weeks to repair all damage caused by the storm.

“Residents are also encouraged to submit any photos, video and rainfall data you may have. This may be useful as the township works to understand what happened and what can be done to lessen the impact of the future events,” they said in a statement.

The township said it will arrange the collection of flood-damaged items.

The community was at least the third Ontario municipality to declare a state of emergency last week.

St. Catharines and the nearby town of Lincoln were among them after back-to-back storms inundated parts of the Niagara Region with about a quarter of the area’s typical annual rainfall.