WINDSOR, Ont. -- Heavy rain is flooding homes, roads and parking lots in the Windsor-Essex region of southwestern Ontario.

Environment Canada says unofficial reports indicate up to 150 millimetres of rain had fallen in the Tecumseh area and as much as 115mm in the Belle River area by noon Thursday.

Forecasters say several rounds of showers and thunderstorms will continue to affect Essex County into Friday, with additional rainfall amounts expected to be in the 40 to 70mm range.

They say the normal rainfall amount for the whole month of September in Windsor-Essex is about 94mm.

Provincial police say many roads in the Tecumseh area have been flooded and are urging drivers to avoid flooded areas, and parents to keep children away from water runoff areas, rivers, creeks and streams.

The Chatham-Kent area also is receiving significant rainfall, and Environment Canada says rainfall amounts of 30 to 60 mm are forecast by Friday evening for much of the region.

Tecumseh Transit has suspended travel until the weather clears, so the buses won't be operating until further notice.

In Windsor, police were asking drivers to be extra cautious on city roads and were setting up barricades on flooded roads and towing stranded vehicles.

Residents with pumps were being urged to pump the water onto the surface of their property, as pumping it into the sewer as more water could overwhelm the system already running near capacity.