Province opens limited access to Whiteshell

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This article was published 08/06/2022 (834 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Cottage and lodge owners in flood-hit Whiteshell Provincial Park are facing a monumental cleanup, as a phased reopening begins Friday in northern areas evacuated last month.

Only permanent and seasonal residents, and lodge owners and their clients, will be allowed to enter the north Whiteshell via Provincial Road 307, once an evacuation order and general closure are lifted at 1 p.m.

The province is allowing certain people to return because water levels in the Winnipeg River Basin are slowly receding, but an expensive recovery phase could stretch into the 2023 season or beyond for some property owners.

“This is going to take years to clean up. This is like ‘97 flood-scale cleanup for some folks,” said Brent Johnson, whose family has a cottage on Margaret Lake in Otter Falls.

The Johnsons left before the evacuation order was extended from the Betula Lake area to all of the north Whiteshell on May 24 due to record spring flooding.

A dike made from thousands of sandbags is protecting the family’s cottage, but it is still surrounded by about one metre of water.

“We’re probably going to spend the entire summer dismantling (the dike) unless there’s some kind of help offered by the province,” said Johnson.

“We know things are OK for us, thankfully, but that’s not the case for a lot of other folks whose cabins have flooded or have other damage. My heart goes out to those who have significant damage.”

Boathouses, boats and docks have been wrecked. Some docks broke loose and floated away, along with other belongings.

Many roads are still submerged and in poor shape. Parts of PR 307 are down to a single lane, including a section that was raised.

Some residents or business owners may have insurance coverage or may be eligible for disaster financial assistance from the province, said Johnson, who hopes relief is extended to people whose cottages are secondary properties.

“Given the scale and the scope of the damage caused by this flood, it would be nice if the province makes some kind of exception to help folks out.”

The province confirmed Thursday that only primary residences are eligible for disaster financial assistance.

Most cottages in the area are secondary residences.

“The Manitoba government sympathizes with citizens whose cottage properties have been damaged due to flooding this year,” a spokesperson wrote in an email.

Provincial staff will clean up sandbags and flood protection equipment they have placed.

People are asked to dump sandbags at original supply locations. Dumping sand into lakes or streams is harmful to fish and other aquatic life, the province said.

In the first phase of the reopening, the province is allowing access to the Sylvia, Eleanor, Dorothy and Nutimik lakes, Otter Falls and Barrier Bay areas.

The Betula Lake area, where roads are impassable, will remain closed.

Day users and campers are still not allowed in the north Whiteshell. Barricades are staying up at campgrounds and access points.

Some campgrounds may require repairs to electrical, water and/or wastewater systems before they are safe to reopen.

Refunds will be given to campsite reservation holders and seasonal campers affected by a closure, the province said.

All backcountry campsites in the Whiteshell remain closed, along with the Mantario Trail and multiple other trails.

Details of the next phase of the reopening plan are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

North Whiteshell lodge and resort owners, who were forced to cancel bookings while the evacuation order was in place, are preparing to salvage what’s left of the season.

“We’ll start welcoming people back next week,” said Amy Vereb, co-owner of Otter Falls Resort. “There’s a lot of work to do.”

That includes getting rid of sandbags and debris that washed up, and bringing in food, supplies and staff.

“We’re just excited to have a summer. We’re asking people to be patient because there’s a huge cleanup to undertake,” said Vereb, who was among the permanent residents given permission to stay, despite the evacuation order.

D.J. Seales, who owns Barrier Bay Resort and is president of the North Whiteshell Business Association, welcomed the first phase.

“They’ve created a way that is safe for people to start returning and start coming back from what’s happened,” he said. “It’s going to be a different summer for everybody, even once campers come back in. The water is still really high. There is still a huge current in there.”

The Winnipeg River is expected to crest this week. It may take several weeks to recede to normal summer levels, depending on the weather.

The province is monitoring a system that could dump another 20 to 50 millimetres of rain in southern and central Manitoba early next week.

Seales is asking future north Whiteshell visitors to have some grace for cottagers, businesses, resorts and parks staff.

“Things may not be what they’re used to, but we’re all trying to get it back to a normal state,” he said.

Watercraft restrictions remain in place on Whiteshell lakes to limit erosion and property damage from boat wakes.

People who aren’t in one of the eligible groups shouldn’t visit the area until the province says it is OK to do so, Johnson said.

“Please, no gawkers, no tourists. Let people who need to get in there get in there. Stay out of their way,” he said.

Many places are still underwater, said Glen Rogers, who lives on Jessica Lake just outside the closure area.

“For people who are coming down to their cabins, you just don’t know what to expect,” he said. “Water levels are going in the right direction. We’re just hoping for the best, and no rain.”

The province declared a local state of emergency in the Whiteshell and issued the initial evacuation order for Betula Lake on May 20.

A stretch of PR 307 closed when the order was extended to all northern areas of the park four days later. The closure was initially scheduled to end June 6.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching