There are still northeastern Ontario communities under states of emergency as high water levels due to snow melt continue to wreak havoc, with water moving down the various watersheds. There is some good news -- Chisolm Township lifted its state of emergency on April 23, while Greater Sudbury did the same May 1. However, Mattawa is the latest community to declare a state of emergency due to elevated water levels. “After meeting with the upper Ottawa River committee … it was clear to me that, you know, within the next few days or week we’re going to be swamped,” Mayor Raymond Belanger told CTV News. A berm or gravel wall is being built up on Mattawan Street to help mitigate flooding from the nearby Mattawa River. Mattawa joins six other municipalities: Billings Township, Central Manitoulin Township, Municipality of French River, Gordon/ Barry Island Township, Tehkummah Township and the Municipality of West Nipissing. Further North, Moose Factory Island, which includes Moose Cree First Nation, declared a state of emergency April 30. Chief Peter Wesley said more than 1,000 residents have voluntarily evacuated because ice break-up is causing flooding from the Moose River. Moved to Barrie, Toronto Most have been flown to Barrie and Toronto, although some have decided to go to hunt camps for the annual spring hunt. “We received quite the significant snowfall this winter and now the snowmelt is in progress,” Wesley said. “All that snowmelt and water that’s coming down the river is eventually going to come through the Mosse River, which is where our community is located on an island.” He said that he hopes water levels will begin dropping soon. “This is such a fluid event, things change literally hour by hour,” Wesley said. Belanger said residents have stepped up to help the community deal with the crisis. “Mattawa has proven in the past that, when times like these appear, we’re close-knit and we’re extremely resilient and we’ll see our way through this again,” Belanger said. The Ministry of Emergency Preparedness and Resources is working with communities, providing flood barriers, sandbags and other resources. Ricardo Fartura, press secretary for Minister Jill Dunlop, said the ministry has “deployed Ontario Corps partners and volunteers to support flood mitigation efforts and evacuation centres. “Ontario Corps partners – including GlobalMedic, OSARVA, the Salvation Army, and ATTCH Niagara – have been deployed to assist affected communities,” Fartura said. “To date, approximately 208,000 sandbags have been provided province‑wide to combat flooding.” At the request of the Town of Chapleau, the ministry is deploying Ontario Corps partner GlobalMedic, as well as a sandbagging machine and flood barriers. As well, the Township of White River requested 1,500 sandbags from the province, which were delivered May 1.
