Whitewater Region Mayor Neil Nicholson had nothing but words of praise and gratitude for township firefighters and students from Our Lady of Grace Elementary School in Westmeath and Opeongo High School who have filled thousands of sandbags as the township has been on high alert due to rising water levels in the Ottawa River, in the LaPasse and Westmeath areas.
Westmeath – While some areas of Renfrew County have been dealing with threats from forest fires in the past several days, sections of Whitewater Region Township and neighbouring municipalities are continuing to monitor water levels on the Ottawa River.
Members of the Whitewater Region Fire Department have been filling sandbags on weekends and evenings, building a stockpile to be used to protect properties along the Ottawa River in the Westmeath and LaPasse areas where levels over the last two weeks have caused some flooding around homes and closed Lacroix Bay Road and several private laneways.
Mayor Neil Nicholson was at the Westmeath Public Works Garage last Thursday where firefighters along with volunteers from Global Medic, a provincial organization that responds to emergencies and disasters, continued filling sandbags.
He said there were three main concerns about the flooding situation:
1 – Any additional rain in the watershed area would have a dramatic effect on levels;
2 – A threat from the north where the freshet is occurring faster than anticipated which would result in increased flows into the river.
3 – The current levels are expected to last for several more days, meaning that as long as water levels remain high the first two threats will continue to apply.
Mayor Nicholson said the township was responding to the threat by building up a large inventory of sandbags and increasing the presence of paramedics in the township, assessing where all of the inaccessible roads are and who is living where in the event they need to do a rescue, evacuation or respond to a medical call.
As of last Thursday, he estimated more than 20,000 sandbags had been filled.
“We have been really fortunate, the fire department has been sandbagging weekends and evenings around their regular jobs, taking shifts,” he said. “Students from Our Lady of Grace School in Westmeath and Opeongo High School have also been filling bags.”
Mayor Nicholson extended his thanks to everyone who has been providing much-needed assistance.
Global Medic arrived at the Westmeath garage during the noon hour last Thursday with additional sandbagging machinery and also to help secure Lacroix Bay Road which was under threat of being made impassable if it washed out.
“If the water comes up and takes out that road we have lost access to a large number of homes,” he said, estimating there about 75 homes and about 150 residents living along the road that has only one way in and one way out.
Global Medic is a provincial organization operating under the Emergency Preparedness and Response, involved with preparing for or responding to emergencies and disasters. It is headquartered in Toronto with field offices across the province. A small area along the Ottawa in neighbouring Laurentian Valley Township experienced some flooding as did areas of Horton and McNab/Braeside townships to the east.
