Many municipalities in northwestern Ontario have been battling flooding for weeks, but there may be some good news on the horizon.
That is, if the weather cooperates.
“Fortunately, June hasn’t matched the record precipitation that we saw in April and May across the region,” said Matt DeWolfe, executive engineer for the Lake of the Woods Control Board, which regulates water levels in Lake of the Woods. the Woods and Lac Seoul.
“We’ve had occasional high-intensity thunderstorms in the area, but they’re really localized,” he said.
The forecast for the next seven to 10 days, DeWolfe said, is mostly hotter, drier weather, which could mean water levels will peak in late June and then begin to recede.
That’s good news for municipalities like Kenora, Sioux Lookout and Fort Frances, which have been battling flooding for weeks.
While the board focuses on Lake of the Woods and Lac Seul, DeWolfe said the entire basin, which is larger than Canada’s Maritime provinces, is affected by high water levels and flooding.
For example, Rainy Lake has broken a water level record set in 1950. And while Lake of the Woods hasn’t broken its own record, which was also set in 1950, this year’s water levels are the highest since then. . .
The bad news is that even if water levels peak by the end of the month, DeWolfe said it will take time for levels to return to normal. Water levels tend to take as long to go down as they do to rise, he said.
“It took about a month to get to peak levels, and it’s probably going to take three to four weeks with good dry weather, heat and evaporation,” DeWolfe said. “I would be surprised if we see a return to normal lake levels before the end of the July period.”
One municipality that has been struggling with rising waters is Fort Frances.
“The worst part directly in Fort Frances is our coastline,” Mayor June Caul said. “It’s called Front Street, and I’d say probably three-quarters of that entire street is leveled with… the river water.”
“It has completely covered the roads,” he said. “There are no houses on the south side of that road because the river is right there. But on the north side of the trail, we have a lot of sandbags on people’s properties to try and keep water from getting into their basements. “
Caul said the flooded section is completely closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
Front Street isn’t the only part of Fort Frances experiencing flooding. Caul said Point Park and Seven Oaks are also flooded, prompting the city to cancel this year’s Canada Day celebrations and fireworks.
Repairs were also made to a railway track, as water ran under the tracks, Caul said.
Fort Frances is considering making some infrastructure improvements to mitigate potential future flooding, Caul said, though the extent of damage from the current flood won’t be known until the waters recede.
However, Caul said some roads are certain to need to be repaired and some coastal areas will be built on, such as the area around Seven Oaks, which has seen a lot of erosion.
“We have lost a lot of land there due to rain and wind,” he said. “We’ll probably build that with some kind of rock fortification.”
“We did it throughout the Point Park area in 2014.”
DeWolfe said dams in the Kenora area have been open for weeks and the board can’t take any further action to lower lake levels.
However, he said, no damage to the dams has been reported.
“All the dams are holding up well, based on reports from dam operators,” DeWolfe said. “The various boards involved are in constant communication with the dam operators, so there are no concerns.”
“They are definitely being tested,” he said. “These are, for many of these dams, conditions that have not been seen, or seen in many, many years, but everything is working fine.”
Reference-www.cbc.ca