Soldiers from London, Windsor deployed to flood zones

Soldiers from across southwestern Ontario, including London, Windsor and Barrie, have been deployed to help with flooding in some of the worst-hit areas around Ottawa. 

The 31 Canadian Brigade Group, based in London, has sent 132 reservists and a few full-time soldiers to the flood zones.

The call for help came Friday with people quickly making plans to leave this past weekend. 

"Our soldiers are going to be employed in the residential area of Brittania," said Colonel Chris Poole. 

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Brittania is a suburb outside of Ottawa that's experiencing record high levels of water with the river not expected to peak until next week. 

"This brigade has a long history of sending soldiers on domestic operations like the Ice Storm and two years ago when there were floods in Quebec," Poole said.

Equipment sent too

He notes that morale was high as soldiers boarded buses for what could be several weeks of gruelling work packing sandbags and shoring up river banks. 

"They made some very quick arrangements with their families and their employers because a lot of these soldiers have personal commitments, jobs or are going to school. But they wanted to help," Poole said.  

And it's not only people from the area being sent. Poole said equipment has also been shipped, including a brand new sand-bagger. 

"We bought one on trial after the Quebec floods and we didn't think we'd get to use it on a real operation, but we've sent it and we'll see if it gets used."