Minden, Ont. residents ‘cautiously optimistic’ over receding water levels

What a difference 72 hours makes.  The swollen Gull River has dropped and many flooded properties along Anson Street are now drying out.

But a state of emergency continues for the community, with up to 35 mm of rain in the forecast on Wednesday.

The fear last week was Minden would experience another once-in-100-year flood, like it did back in 2013.

“I don’t think so now.  Not like our neighbours to the west in Bracebridge, that are at or eclipsing 2013 levels,” said Brent Devolin, mayor of the Township of Minden Hills.   “We’ve been in the range of the 2017 event. It appears we will stay in that range.”

READ MORE: Ottawa flood victims say more homes would be lost if not for volunteers, military

The dip in water levels was good news for resident Richard Austin.

“That really makes me happy,” said Austin.  “My girlfriend lives down at the end of Anson.  She’ll be quite happy to see the water has receded quite a bit in about 72 hours.”

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Glen and Bev Douglas live at the corner of Anson and McKnight Drive, where the water was up by around a half-metre on Friday.  Today, Anson was only under a few deep puddles.

“I’m still cautiously optimistic,” said Glen Douglas.  “Still more to come, so let’s see what happens.”

“It seems to be going down a lot faster than we expected, so hopefully that’s a good sign,” added Bev Douglas.

READ MORE: These are the health and safety risks during and after a flood

Residents who have sustained damage from the flood are now being encouraged to register their damaged property with the township, so it can begin a registry for potential access to provincial disaster relief funding.

They can register calling the township office at 705-286-1260 ext. 211 or after hours at 1-866-856-3247.

“I know that it’s not nice to get around to doing this,” said Devolin.  “First, just identify yourself and location and the nature of those things.  The details and dollar amounts can follow later.”

A number of lakes to the north of Minden remain high and that water will eventually need to come through the village as it makes its way out of the Trent Severn Waterway system.

The following roads and bridges remain closed:

• Dennison Road
• Prince Street
• McKnight
• Invergordon
• Milburn Road
• Anson
• St. Germaine Street
• McKnight Drive
• Orde Street
• Hospitality Road
• Spring Valley Road
• Ritchie Falls Road
• Mark Twain Road
• Conway Road
• Salerno Lake Road Bridge
• Snowmobile Bridge
• Loggers Crossing Pedestrian Bridge