Berm built, now it is wait and see if River will rise above it

Ken Johnston
Editor

Overnight the flood waters receded several feet overland at the base of the Town of Rainy River.

On Wednesday there were several conference calls between the Lake of the Woods Control Board and the Rainy Lake Water Control Board/International Joint Commission. They were trying to decide how many flood gates to open on the Fort Frances dam. After the morning meeting they decided to send people down stream to monitor the runoff in tributaries feeding the Rainy River.

While another meeting was slated for 1 p.m. the Town of Rainy River opted to mobilize hundreds of volunteers to fill and deploy sandbags. They also hired T. & K. Sharp Construction of Stratton to come in and complete the berm along the River from Darryl Dyck's home in Willow Court to Sixth Street. Construction rolled into high gear about 2 p.m. and by about 11 p.m. it was nearly completed.

The final decision late Wednesday was offered Rainy River what it really needed, time. No gates would be opened until today and then they would be done in stages to reduce the impact on the community. Two gates were opened in Fort Frances early this morning and that water is expected to raise the river level at Rainy River by about four inches. Town councillor Larry Armstrong said that he expects it will replace the receded water.

Abitibi told the town that they would like to open at least two more gates in the afternoon. Another conference call by LWCB and RLWCB/IJC will be held at 1 p.m. to make that call.

Sandbagging resumed at 10 a.m. to complete the reinforcement of the three foot high berm. About half a block was left to complete. A stockpile of bags were also to be filled in case the water comes up higher than the berm later tonight.

Rainy River Mayor Gord Prost said that once the berm is completed it will be a wait and see situation. "While it really feels like the danger has passed at this time we will need people to watch the berm all night."

Volunteers will be asked to patrol it all night as the water from Fort Frances reaches the Town of Rainy River. It takes about 10-12 hours for the full impact of the new water to reach Rainy River from Fort Frances.

The state of emergency will remain in place for Rainy River until officials are sure the danger has completely passed. However Lake of the Woods and Dawson Townships removed their state of emergency at 8 a.m. this morning. LoW/Dawson Clerk Pat Giles said that they also opened Highway 621 at 11:30 p.m. last night. "It is one lane at some places and there is one detour, but it is passable." said Giles.