Annette Francis
APTN National News
KASHECHEWAN – Hundreds of people are being evacuated from the isolated fly-in community of Kashechewan in northern Ontario and being hosted in Kapuskasing and Smooth Rock Falls amid flood concerns.
Evacuations began Thursday with six flights arriving at the First Nation’s small airport to take children, elders and the sick from their homes. Nearly 600 of the community’s most vulnerable are expected to be flown out first.
Christie Wesley, 61, is among those being evacuated Friday. She’s had two days to pack for her family of six, while her husband David boarded up the windows of their home.
“It’s frustrating and stressful, I don’t know where I’m going this year, and I worry about my home,” said Wesley.
It’s the fourth year in a row the community of nearly 2,000 has had to move because of flooding risks by a rising Albany River and according to Chief Derek Stephen it’s likely to occur every year because the dike that surrounds the community is deteriorating.
“There’s too many unknowns, it’s not just the water, it’s not just the ice anymore that’s giving us problems, it’s now our dike and the instability of it,” said Stephen.
Stephen said Aboriginal affairs has offered $1.14 million to repair the dike, but he refuses to accept that offer because the proper mitigation would cost up to $12 million.
In the meantime, a crew of technicians flew from Timmins on Wednesday. They’re trying to close the five outlet structures on the dike as a temporary fix said Stephen.
The next stage of the evacuations are scheduled to begin on Saturday through to Monday. Stephens couldn’t confirm where those residents will be hosted, but likely 500 will go to Cornwall, Ont., he said.
