Flood

May 2022 Northwestern Ontario Flood

Rapidly-melting snow combined with heavy rainfall caused flooding or washouts on numerous Northwestern Ontario roads in May 2022.  Highway 105 to Red Lake was closed in two locations.  20 kilometres south of Red Lake were closed due to a washout.  North of Vermilion Bay and Highway 609 were closed, due to water over the road.  It was the worst flooding in Northwestern Ontario.  At Bluffy Lake Lodge, the road from the parking lot to the camp had around three feet of water with the lower buildings water surrounding them, LP tanks were floating, the generator building had water entering the generator.  The only loss was the fish cleaning building.  For the first couple weeks after opener, guests had to take a dirt detour north of Vermilon Bay and be transported into the camp by boat.  To make matters crazier, we received 7 inches of snow on the wet pine tree roots that uprooted 33 trees from the camp to the parking lot.  There were over 200 trees knocked how in that area. Bluffy Lake Lodge was very fortunate compared to other camps, lodges, and outposts in that it could still be open.  Many camps couldn’t be reached except by plane.  Roads and culverts were washed out for the whole year.  It was a year to remember.