Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River water levels are expected to stay above average into the spring, following record levels last year that led to extreme flooding in Central Canada.

“Local rainfall amounts of 50 inches would exceed any previous Texas rainfall record. The breadth and intensity of this rainfall are beyond anything experienced before,” said a statement from the National Weather Service. “Catastrophic flooding is now underway and expected to continue for several days.”

Across a growing swath of North America, these animals are dying from a mysterious disorder called chronic wasting disease. It’s caused not by a virus or bacterium, but a deformed protein called a prion.

Winter rain makes it more difficult for the animals to feed, particularly pregnant females, researchers found.