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.
Homes in Carmacks, Yukon, that use the village's wastewater treatment plant are now under an evacuation alert as water levels on the Yukon River continue to rise. The plant is at risk of being overwhelmed, and the village doesn't know how much longer it can last, Mayor Lee Bodie said on Sunday. "There may be an evacuation order coming any day," Bodie said.
Rising floodwaters in the Fort Frances, Ont., area are leaving people living there with feelings of helplessness, one resident says. Water levels on Rainy Lake set a record last week, surpassing one set in 1950. "I had a feeling that there was going to be a lot of water when spring did roll around," Nathan Calder said Tuesday. "Ice on the lake held on for a lot longer than it usually does.
The forecast may be improving in Minnedosa, but that doesn't mean people in the flooded southwestern Manitoba town can let their guards down just yet. "The big rain is behind us. Not time to get complacent, though," Jim Doppler, the town's chief administrative officer, told host Marcy Markusa on CBC's Information Radio Friday morning. People in Minnedosa were frantically sandbagging and pumping water throughout a downpour Thursday, as the Little Saskatchewan River inched higher.
With more rain expected this week, the flood fight in Peguis First Nation is taking on renewed urgency today, with crews working rapidly to build up dikes and sandbagging around homes. Water levels in the community have gone down in recent days, enough so that a tractor trailer was able to make a delivery to the local grocery store. But rain in the forecast has residents worried water levels will rise back up again.
As floods have ravaged through Abbotsford, B.C., Lindsay Finnson is among many locals experiencing the struggle and generosity of the community. Finnson has volunteered by sandbagging and providing food to those affected. But with more stormy weather in the forecast, the pitter-patter of rain is showering her with discomfort and anxiety. "As soon as the rain started, I just had this... tight feeling in my chest like that anxiety, right, that sense of impending doom. And like just that hope that we've done enough," she said.
A large swath of Ontario is struggling to stay above water as heavy Friday rainfall exacerbates flood concerns in multiple regions. Heavy rain started in Toronto and much of southern Ontario in the morning and stretched through the afternoon. Some areas could see the rain change to flurries overnight. While Torontonians merely needed to pack an umbrella, residents about 150 kilometres north, in the towns of Bracebridge and Huntsville, are grappling with a more dangerous situation.
