Mayor reflects on flood threat

Ken Johnston
Editor

Mayor Gord Prost noted that the government agencies have been very helpful. “They have been calling us to see how they can help.”
He also felt that the agencies that control the damns gave him a real sense that they were trying to buy the town time before opening gates. That time (about 24 hours) plus the emergency opening of the Norman Dam in Kenora from 200 cubic metres per second to 1200 on Wednesday helped prevent a disaster in Rainy River.
Prost said that from the air it was very obvious that the area had been hit with a great deal of water. He said bays were a mess on the lake and the debris in the river showed the effects of swelled tributaries and the Rainy River.
As for future floods, given this has happened three times in five years, Prost said, “Some councillors will have to take (a permanent berm project) on and concentrate and make it happen.” He noted that an engineering study on it will have to be conducted which he hopes can be fast tracked.
It is hoped that the provincial and federal governments will see the dike as necessary and fund it’s construction. Gary Kerton of Emergency Measures Ontario encouraged council to sell it as a cost saving measure for the future. With the governments having to kick in big money for emergency disaster relief, preventing flooding could save a lot of money and property.
Kerton also felt that unlike the past two floods in Rainy River in 2001 and 1997, the federal governement will likely have to shell out dollars. The feds use a per capita formula. For every person in the province there must be at least $1 of damage (i.e. $12 million in Ontario) before they will kick in assistance. Kerton is confident that with the widespread damage to district roads and flooding in various areas that the total damage will exceed the $12 million mark.
Mayor Gord Prost noted that in addition to the costs to fortify the town against the rising river, the town’s sewer system was taxed to excessive levels. The added pressure on a system that is very old could have caused even more problems for the town.
Council scheduled a meeting for Tuesday morning (June 18th) to ask the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to declare the Town of Rainy River a Disaster Area so that they can begin accessing the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program.