Town battles floodwaters of rising Rainy River

Ken Johnston
Editor

As runoff from Sunday and Monday's storms poured into the Rainy River the water levels grew to critical levels Tuesday morning.
That forced Rainy River's town council to declare a State of Emergency in the community. The call for volunteers to sand bag went out shortly after 9 a.m. and their numbers rose as steadily as the water did.
The Government dock saw the water rise an astounding three feet Monday. The water reached the collar on the dock Tuesday morning and began spilling into Hannam Park.
Councillor Larry Armstrong placed a marked stake in the park at the edge of the water, which was about 20 feet from the road. That was at about 6 a.m. and by 2 p.m. the water had moved past the stake by about ten feet and risen up it about eight inches.
The Rainy River fire department was called into action around lunch time to utilize the pumper truck.
Fireman Morris Mykytyn and river front homeowner Richard Trenchard said that they had run out of pumps around town. The firemen began pumping water from the north side of River Ave. West while the town crew filled in the culverts with gravel and sand bags.
By mid afternoon the plan was in place to build a berm along River Ave.West and to continue sandbagging where needed. Homes in the new subdivision along the river were sandbagged by hundreds of volunteers. Chain-gains of volunteers quickly constructed sandbag barriers around the homes while even more people worked to fill them at the municipal garage. People from all over the area including neighbours from the U.S. were on hand to help out.
Dave Kempenich of Baudette said that he had helped sandbag in Baudette Monday and that they had secured enough bags to fill the low areas along the Rainy River. "I am just helping out wherever I am needed."
Former Mayor Gord Armstrong was asked to head up the command center at the town office. Armstrong has the experience of the 1997 flood behind him. He and town clerk Deb Bowman worked the phones all day and made some headway with the mill in Fort Frances. They announced they were going to open eight gates on the dam and possibly more later in the day or tomorrow. "They said they will only open seven today and will hold off on any more as long as possible," said Bowman.
Councillor Larry Armstrong said that they had been in contact with the Lake of the Woods Water Control Board in the morning and they did not believe it was flooding in Rainy River. The Record emailed them some photos and they now believe. However they did not commit to opening the gates on the Norman Dam in Kenora.
Other volunteers worked all day to cook food and provide drinks for the army of workers. Clerk Bowman said that the worst is yet to come and she was worried about burning out the volunteers too quickly. "Send some home if they are not needed now and have them come back later."
The town only has about 10,000 sandbags in reserve but Gord Armstrong said they have a line on more if they need them. The problem is that the area is landlocked to the west of Baudette and east of Fort Frances.