Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Plumbers in London, Ont. say they are responding to an influx of calls for help with bursting pipes following days of harsh winter weather. A fierce mix of rain, ice, heavy snow and chilly temperatures over the holiday weekend left travellers stranded and thousands without power across much of Ontario and Quebec. The London region experienced minimal outages, but extreme conditions have caused pipes in many residences and businesses to freeze and then burst as they thaw.
The mayor of Conmee said Tuesday warmer weather is needed before repairs to roads damaged by weekend flooding can really get underway. The township, about 40 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, declared a state of emergency on Monday due to the flooding, Mayor Kevin Holland said. "We received significant rainfall over the weekend in the township, and that combined with the heavy snow load on the ground in the ditches and the watercourses caused some water backing up and flooding," Holland said. "It impacted our road infrastructure pretty heavily.
