The Mayor of Mattawa says they’ve been through flooding situations before and they’ll get through this one, too.

A state of emergency was declared on Monday and more water is expected today.

Mayor Dean Backer there has been plenty of support from residents in and around Mattawa.

“We’re overwhelmed by the support we have. A lot of families have been affected, right now our priorities are those families. Some families have been displaced and we’re making sure they get the needs and services,” he says.

Backer is also asking people to stay away from the closed streets to allow crews to do their work.

“Stay indoors, there’s a lot of heavy machinery around, let people do their job and we’re going to get through this process. When we do, it’s just a matter of cleaning up, we have a festival coming up so we definitely have to clean up and we’ll be bigger and better,” he says.

Mattawan Street from Main to Sid Turcotte Park Road and Timmins Street remain closed and Brook Street from highway 17 to Ottawa Street is also closed.

Ian Foster, the owner of Sid Turcotte Park says damages are significant, with about 10-12 trailers lost and damages to their buildings too.

“I’d say just in lost trailers we’re probably in a value of $250,000-$300,000 plus a few hundred thousand in these buildings, plus electrical damage, electrical systems that are now under water,” he says.

Foster says the community has really come together.

“The town came alive as soon as the state of emergency was declared, you could just hear it, the dump trucks, everyone operating their backhoes trying to save things, we did what we could with short notice, but it was pretty short notice,” he says.

Darcy Backer, with Mattawa Public Works, says the biggest challenge is keeping up with the water, which rose extremely fast on Monday.

“We built a berm on Mattawan Street, observing, see how high the water gets, if we have to put more gravel, sandbags around people’s properties, basically stand by and see if the water recedes,” he says.

Backer is also asking people to keep their vehicles off the closed roadways to allow crews to do their work.

Residents are encouraged to contact their insurance provider to determine level of coverage.

Anyone in need of sandbags is asked to call 705-744-5611. For Emergency Services call: 911

The flood warning is in effect until Monday.

(Photos by station staff)