KASHECHEWAN, Ont. -- Nearly 400 people in a Northern Ontario First Nation community had to leave their homes on Friday because of the threat of flooding.
Kashechewan Chief Derek Stephen says evacuation flights will likely continue from the community until early next week.
This is the forth consecutive year the community on the western shore of James Bay has had to be evacuated.
Residents are being taken to the northern Ontario communities of Kapuskasing, Smooth Rock Falls and Wawa.
Derek says all 1,900 residents will leave within the next few days, although 15 to 20 people will remain behind to keep an eye on the town and its precarious dike.
Stephen says there's a "horrible risk" of the old dike collapsing.
He says it's time to move the community to higher ground so it doesn't have to face this every spring when ice thaws and river waters rise.
