Rural residents living in areas just outside Thunder Bay braced for the prospect of flooded roads late Friday, as warming temperatures and a rainy forecast elevated the risk for ice jams, rising rivers and accelerated melting of an unusually deep snow-pack.
“We have been on flood watch all day (Friday), as the ice lifted on the Whitefish River over (Thursday) night,” O’Connor Township clerk-treasurer Lorna Buob said late Friday afternoon.
“We are expecting the flooding to hit us in an hour or two,” Buob added.
As locals watched and waited, the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority (LRCA) issued a flood-watch bulletin for the Whitefish River watershed that included O’Connor and Gillies townships as well as the Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge.
“Ice jamming has been reported and observed on the Whitefish River, causing a blockage to the flow of water down the river,” the LRCA bulletin said.
“The block of the flow of water due to ice jamming could cause roads to overtop,” it added. “Once the ice dam breaks up, the excess flow of water may also lead to over-topped roads in the area for a short period of time.”
Up to 10 millimetres of rain was in the local forecast for Friday, the LRCA noted. The authority’s flood-watch bulletin is to remain in effect until 10 a.m. on Monday.
The authority reminded motorists not to drive through flooded sections of roads, and to keep children and pets away from waterways.
According to the LRCA’s latest snow survey for the areas it monitors, snow depth remains “significantly above average” for this time of year.
As of Wednesday, just over 70 centimetres of snow remained at the authority’s Hazelwood Lake measuring station, constituting the equivalent of 203 millimetres of water.
Oliver Paipoonge fire Chief Sean Horan said on Friday the municipality is monitoring the situation and making affected parties aware, but “no other action at this point.”
Meanwhile, cooler temperatures are briefly in store for the region today.
According to Environment Canada’s website, the mercury is only to rise to -1 C in Thunder Bay, 11 degrees cooler than normal for the city at this time of year.
