By Brent Bosker

Montreal River washes over road in Air Ronge

Aug 5, 2011 | 6:50 AM

The flow on the Montreal River appears to have crested, but flooding is far from over for one Northern Saskatchewan community.

According to the Northern Village of Air Ronge, the swollen river has overtaken the Big Stone Road, putting about 12 homes in the area at risk.

“That’s forced us to issue a voluntary evacuation order,” said Dave Smallwood, deputy mayor.

“We have to issue an evacuation order because the services such as fire (and) ambulance can’t make it through in a timely fashion.”

“It’s a matter of saying to them we can’t provide services, however it’s entirely up to you.”

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Smallwood explained the community has been under a state of emergency since heavy rain caused the river to reach record levels last month.

Those historical levels have caused basements to flood and forced the community to sandbag around homes and infrastructure. Water is also tricking over the highway that leads to the bridge, said Smallwood.

The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority believes the river has reached its peaked, but hasn’t shown any signs of coming down.

“With everything high, the Montreal River will stay at this level for several days — maybe as long as a week — before it starts slowly receding,” said Dale Hjertaas, executive director of policy and communications.

“It’s all dependent on no more rain.”

Record water levels on lakes and rivers this summer has also resulted in two separate evacuations on the Montreal Lake Cree Nation.

bbosker@panow.com