Representing Ottawa at the meeting on Friday morning were Mayor Jim Watson, West Carleton-March Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, and Pierre Poirier, head of emergency management at the city.

"A lot of the homes are still in a position where we tell people: 'Don't remove any of your sandbags, don't stop pumping, it's not time,'" one city official said.

The crossing was already due to be closed to vehicle traffic as of June for construction work.

The National Capital Commission didn't say how long the southern area of the riverfront park would be closed to the public.  

The City of Ottawa has scheduled four info sessions next week for residents affected by flooding on how to recover and access help.

In anticipation of the rainfall over the next few days, the City of Ottawa has urged residents in communities impacted by flooding to "keep their sandbags walls up."

"The city anticipates water levels will rise again slightly between now and Friday but below the peaks that were reached last week."

Councillors unanimously approved a motion to defer the final property-tax deadline from June 20 to Dec. 5, 2019, primarily for properties in the areas hardest hit by the bloated Ottawa River.

The program has been activated for flood-affected residents in the cities of Ottawa and Clarence-Rockland, and the townships of Champlain and Alfred and Plantagenet.

Ottawa River levels decreased between four and six centimetres overnight near Ottawa, Gatineau, Thurso and Hawkesbury, the Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board said on Friday. But Ottawa isn't necessarily out of the woods.