Some residents in Nolalu were forced from their homes Monday as flash floods swept through their community.
Significant rainfall over the past few days resulted in a major rise of water levels in the Whitefish River, which was severely swollen with water washing out roads and flooding homes and properties.
Nolalu Fire Chief Bob Payne said crews are still trying to determine the extent of the flooding.
“We’re still assessing the damage,” he said earlier in the evening.
“Highway 588 in the village has been washed out and a lot of the secondary roads south of (the fire hall) have been washed out too. We’re now finding out we have locations between here and Thunder Bay we have washouts.”
The Lakehead Region Conservation Authority issued a flood warning for the Lakehead region, specifically the townships of O'Connor and Gillies.
The LRCA estimated more than 120 millimetres of rainfall in the Whitefish River basin during a 12-hour period earlier Monday.
The OPP had previously closed Highway 588 at the intersection of Highway 590, preventing traffic from travelling south towards the village.
Earlier in the day the flash floods had trapped a Ministry of Transportation pickup truck which was surveying roadways. The OPP and Nolalu fire crews had to rescue the driver.
Later in the evening the Ministry of Transporation closed a bridge on Highway 588 crossing the Whitefish River near the western boundary of Gillies Township. Water had reached the base of that bridge.
