KASHECHEWAN – A fly-in First Nation on the shore of James Bay in northern Ontario has asked its community members to evacuate after spring flooding cut off the road to its airport.
The Kashechewan First Nation Youth Advisory says in a social media post that flooding began to take over the airport road on Thursday morning, with water believed to have reached the airport as well.
Kashechewan Chief Hosea Wesley also says residents should get boats ready in case the flooding rises above the community’s dike.
Community members were later told to gather on the baseball field, to be taken to the neighbouring Fort Albany First Nation and flown south from there.
The Cree community declared a state of emergency last month when spring flooding began threatening the area and prompted some precautionary evacuations.
Fort Albany First Nation also declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after detecting that ice in the Albany River had broken up and increased risk of flooding.
Fort Albany’s full-scale evacuation order was paused on Thursday afternoon while members of the Kashechewan First Nation evacuate.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2025.
