Wawa declares state of emergency after flooding destroys roads, bridges

The northern Ontario town of Wawa declared a state of emergency after two days of heavy rainfall overflowed creeks and washed out two bridges.

The barrage of rain first hit the community on Wednesday and continued over the course of two days. The rain has since stopped, but the overflow overburdened the town's drainage system and flooded a local hospital's basement.

Wawa, a community of 3,000, sits near the coast of Lake Superior about 200 kilometres north of Sault Ste. Marie.

Environment Canada said on Friday that the massive downpour was caused by a slow-moving cold front that brought heavy thunderstorms to the Lake Superior area.

The weather office reports that Wawa's two-day rainfall was measured at 133 mm as of 8 a.m. Friday morning. The nearby town of Pukaswa received 128.4 mm of rainfall.

Ontario Provincial Police issued an alert on Friday warning drivers to remain off the roads unless "absolutely necessary."

Mayor Linda Nowicki told CBC that an emergency was declared when roads surrounding the community were rendered useless.

"It was such a heavy downpour that if you were driving down the street you wouldn't see in front of your vehicle. It was raining that heavily," she said.

Local highways were closed due to the flooding and roads into nearby remote communities were washed out. Two bridges damaged in the downpour will cost about $5 million to repair, Nowicki told CBC.