Annual flooding takes its toll on First Nation communities

The threat of flooding is now over for the member nations’ in the Mushkegowak Tribal Council, but that doesn’t mean residents who were evacuated will be returning home right away.

“Separate states of emergency were declared because of the quick thaw of snow, community drainage system not working, causing sewage back up and damage to houses,” said Doug Cheechoo, special projects officer with Mushkegowak Council.
There are still about 80 homes on Kashechewan and Attawapiskat First Nations that are uninhabitable and Cheechoo expects those families to be displaced for several more weeks.

Kashechewan also experienced problems with its water distribution system and had to bring in bottled water, Cheechoo said.
According to Emergency Management Ontario, 64 people from Attawapiskat (now in Fort Frances) and 311 from Kashechewan (evacuated to Kapuskasing) will remain out of their homes until work can be undertaken to clean the flooding and sewage back-up and inspections of their homes are completed.

Attawapiskat had an additional 350 residents evacuated to Thunder Bay and Greenstone. They returned home mid-May after a handful of days being away from their community.

States of emergency Stage 1 were declared in April in those First Nations. Fort Albany was on high alert and standby for high water levels during that same time period due to the over flow of major rivers in northern Ontario, said Cheechoo.

Stage 1 means that the most vulnerable population, such as Elders, children and the sick, are evacuated.

“This is normal flooding every year for the far north, for the James Bay lowlands. The water comes up pretty high almost every year for those communities there,” he said.

Flooding is caused due to spring break up and high snow melt.
States of emergency were also declared in Pic Mobert, Mattagami, Constance Lake, and Sagamok Anishnawbeck First Nations.

Other areas hit by flooding were Moosonee and Moose Factory.
To help with the work that needs to be undertaken for flood preparedness for 2013, Canada’s Aboriginal Affairs provided Ontario First Nations with $435,000, including $135,000 to Mushkegowak Tribal Council.

“(The funding) is to prepare not only for flooding but for other emergencies that could appear in the community,” said Cheechoo. “We have a regional coordinator who works with the communities to do that.”

AANDC also provided 62 First Nations in Saskatchewan with close to $2.4 million to help with preparation work for seasonal flooding.

The Cowessess First Nation received $46,400 and put that money to good use, although Chief and Council did declare a 10-day state of emergency which began May 3.

“There was no flooding,” said Deanna Lerat, emergency coordinator. “It’s a new chief and council and I think they were concerned about doing everything right. Their mandate is to look after the people.”

Following the 2011 flood, Cowessess First Nation built berms. This April and May, as the water began rising in the Qu’Appelle River from the spring run-off, sandbagging took place on along the creek. The only structural damage to occur was when the access to a newly-constructed bridge was washed out. The access was quickly rebuilt.

“We were prepared. We learned from the 2011 experience and we were more proactive this time,” said Lerat.

Other First Nations in the Qu’Appelle Valley weren’t so lucky, with Muscowpetung and Carry the Kettle declaring states of emergency.

In mid-May states of emergency were still in place for Muscowpetung, James Smith, Canoe Lake, Onion Lake, Sakimay and Poundmaker First Nations. However, Duane McKay, executive director and commissioner with the province’s Emergency Management and Fire Safety, expected those states of emergency to time out shortly.

While flooding from snow melt and run-off no longer remains a concern for rivers and tributaries, there are some areas in which precipitation is a concern.

“If we get significant rains that would obviously create more of a flood risk for those areas. So as we ramp down in terms of our spring run-off we’re still in a state of vigilance in terms of what may occur obviously because of our history in the last two or three years,” said McKay.

As of mid-May only one family, four members from the Poundmaker First Nation, still remained  evacuated. About 75 people had been evacuated. In Onion Lake Cree Nation 200 people were put on standby.