The New Brunswick government has set up a hotline to help flood victims apply for financial aid and arrange home safety inspections.Water flows have levelled off in Fredericton. (Submitted by Gina Kirby)

Officials will be taking calls, starting Monday, from people who are not covered by regular insurance and want to register for aid to rebuild their homes and businesses.

The call centre can be reached from within the region at 1-888-298-8555, Public Safety Minister John Foran told reporters on Sunday. People can also visit the Service New Brunswick website.

Deductibles are $1,000 for individual residential claims and $5,000 for small business owners, Foran said. These will be waived for people on social assistance, he added.

Following the 2005 New Brunswick flood, the deductibles were set at $5,000 for residential claims and $10,000 for commercial claims.A flooded Officer's Square in Fredericton. (Submitted by Leanne Ayer)

The Red Cross will also be setting up in a location that will be announced on a daily basis. This team will help people with questions about financial aid, as well as provide water-testing kits for people who use well water.

Provincial officials have asked people flooded out of their homes to have their residences inspected before they return. The public safety minister said reconnecting electrical power will be a priority.

The government said it will not charge any fees to reconnect hydro, test wells or do electrical inspections.

Premier Shawn Graham said the Disaster Financial Assistance Program is cost-shared with the federal government. He declined to speculate on a tally for damages or financial aid.

"Today our priority is not looking at the final cost is going to be, because those assessments will be undertaken over the next weeks and months ahead," Graham said.

"Our government's top priority today is making sure that people know that recovery programs are in place now to help them bring their lives back to normal and return home," he said.

Forced from homes

Hundreds of people across the province have been forced from their homes in the past week by flood waters along the 700-kilometre length of the St. John River.

Flood levels are dropping along much of the river, but the crest is moving downriver toward the Saint John area, and people in that area are advised to be on alert.A danger sign near Belleisle High School north of Saint John. (Submitted by Brett Kane)

Water flows and levels have levelled off in Fredericton and Maugerville. However, downstream communities will continue to see increasing levels through Sunday, the province's Emergency Measures Organization said on its website.

Officials are warning people not to use the river for flood waters for recreational use. They say there is a strong current, and still a lot of debris.

They're also worried about sewage. There are visible signs of sewage at a trailer park that was evacuated near Fredericton on Friday night.

Forecast of more rain

The flooding began with the spring snow melt and was compounded by heavy rains early in the week.

More rain is in the forecast for Monday, but the EMO's Andy Morton said that doesn't necessarily mean water levels will rise again.

"Currently we're experiencing a little bit of cloud cover in the province, and that's going to bring some precipitation to us," he said at Sunday's news conference.

"It doesn't appear at this point that this rain will have any major impact on the trends that we have seen in the river system so far," Morton said.

He said, however, another weather system was expected to move in later in the week and his office is "keeping a very close eye on that" because river systems remain full.

"There are still a lot of properties at risk right now."

With files from the Canadian Press