Officials feeling more hopeful about Rainy Lake flood situation

Officials in Fort Frances, Ont.,and theCouchiching First Nation say they're feeling more positive that ongoing flooding won't do as much additional damage in the coming days as they had feared.

Patrick Briere, the public information officer for Fort Frances' emergency control group, spoke to CBC News on Sunday while he was out with about 40 volunteers placing sandbags along the Rainy Lake shoreline in Pither'sPoint Park.

He said thunderstorms and heavy rainfallexpectedover the weekend didn't materialize, so the lake's water levelhadn't risen as much as he had feared.

"It's not assignificantasforecasted," Briere said. "The weather systems have blown by us, so that has been a huge help for us."

Briereadded that he was more concerned about further erosion by the waves produced by high winds on Sunday. He said the park has already lost its entire beach area to ongoing flooding, so volunteers were using sandbags to protect other parts of the land.

"We're just being proactive and we're trying to limit the amount of damage that's happening," he said.

Besides the effect of flooding on the shoreline, Briere pointed out a particular hazard the high water level is posing to boaters trying to go under the CNbridge in Fort Frances.

"We're seeing boats going through that area right now and there's not much clearance to the bottom of the bridge," he said, adding that boaters shouldexercise extreme caution.

Emergency funding brings relief to First Nation

In the neighbouring Couchiching First Nation, officials sounded the alarm last weekas erosion on the swollen shores of the Rainy Lake threatened several homes.

On Sunday afternoon, Couchiching's emergency resources coordinator, Christine Jourdain, told CBCNewsthe federal departmentof Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development had just approved emergencyfunding so the First Nation could build a retaining wall to protect about a dozen houses.

"We're talking about 400 metres of shoreline that we received approval to go ahead and do that for the necessity of saving those homes along the lakefront," shesaid.

Jourdain saidHydro One was monitoring a transformer at risk of being submerged by water.If that happened, she said, it would knock out power to another group of houses in the community.

But Jourdain said the situation is "looking more positive" than it did before the weekend.

Although there's rain in the weather forecast for Monday and Tuesday, both Jourdain and Briereare hoping that like theweekend, the rainfall will be less than expected.

"Let's just hope the weather keeps co-operating with us," said Jourdain.