Kashechewan to start evacuation early amid flood concerns

The youngest and oldest people in the remote northern Ontario community of Kashechewan will be moved out of the area starting today amid concerns about flooding.

An evacuation was initially planned for nextMonday, but officials have decided to start the effort to move about 600 vulnerable residents outearlier because of concerns about damage to a dike meant toprotectthe community from the Albany River.

Timmins-JamesBay MP Charlie Angus said Wednesday that aerial observershave reported a great deal of ice, "so thereis a lot of concern that this could be a very big flooding year."

• Kashechewan prepares for another flood amid worries about dike
• Clean running water still aluxury on many reserves

The residents leaving Kashechewanon Thursdaywill be flown to Smooth Rock Falls and Kapuskasing, saida spokesperson from Emergency Management Ontario.

This is the fourth straight year that Kashechewan, a community of nearly 2,000 on the shore of the Albany River, has had to move people because of flooding risks. More than 1,500 people were flown out of the community last spring alone.

Aboriginal Affairs says the cost of last year's evacuation stands at $21 million. That figure is still climbing, as roughly 400 of the people who were flown out last year are still living inKapuskasingwhile work is done to repair their flood-damagedhomes.

KashechewanChiefDerek Stephen has called on Ottawa to help find a permanent solution to the annual flooding.

A statement from the office of the minister of aboriginal affairs said it has offered $1.1 million to Kashechewan to assist with repairs to the dike.

The nearby communities of Fort Albany andAttawapiskatare also monitoring for rising water levels and ice jams on the rivers of the James Bay Coast.

Those communities have not requested an evacuation at this time,Emergency Management Ontario said.