Kasabonika Lake First Nation declares state of emergency as water levels rise
Kasabonika Lake, Ontario declares state of emergency
The Canadian Press - May 27, 2013
A remote northwestern Ontario First Nation remained under a state of emergency Monday as water levels on the lake it sits on continued to rise.
File photo courtesy: Lori Swarz
A partial evacuation of the Kasabonika Lake First Nation has taken place, according to Emergency Management Ontario, with about 150 vulnerable residents and their caregivers taken to towns of Hearst and Greenstone as a precaution.
"(The water) is still rising but at a much slower rate than it has been," Mitch Diabo, a community member and lead co-ordinator for the flood response team, told The Canadian Press.
"There was some initial panic (among residents) as far as 'why are some leaving? The rest of us aren't' ... We've managed the perceptions there."
The community is located on an island on the lake it gets its name from, and is home to about 866 people, according to its website. One of the biggest fears has been that rising waters would flood the community's sewage plant and cause it to shut down, which in turn would require the reserve's water treatment plant to close as well, said Diabo.
After bringing in external technicians, those operations have been protected.
"Things are starting to stabilize as far as the infrastructure and the environment," Diabo said. Nonetheless, issues remain. "Our access road to the one bridge we have to get off the island we live on, is submerged right now," Diabo said.
The First Nation has asked inspectors from the Ministry of Transportation to take a look at the bridge to ensure it remains stable. The community has also asked authorities to inspect hydro poles in the vicinity to ensure they are in good condition.
Kasabonika Lake received a lot of snow over the winter and a late spring has meant ice and snow are still melting. While some sheds and outer buildings on certain properties have been affected by the rising water, no homes have been significantly impacted.
Rangers and volunteers have filled 2,500 sandbags to protect vulnerable residences from flooding. The state of emergency declared at Kasabonika Lake comes just weeks after a similar situation at two other northern Ontario reserves.
Hundreds of residents were flown out of the Kashechewan First Nation and the Attawapiskat First Nation at the end of April as a precaution after rapidly melting snow overwhelmed infrastructure, sending sewage into homes, schools and even a hospital.