WAWA, Ont. - The mayor of a northern Ontario town where a section of the Trans-Canada Highway was washed away by heavy rain says it should be partly reopened within days.
Wawa Mayor Linda Nowicki says it's expected that one lane of the southbound stretch of Highway 17 to Sault Ste. Marie will be reopened Sunday.
She says the northbound lanes of the highway are expected to remain closed for another week as crews repair 15-metre holes in the road.
Nowicki says a partial evacuation began this afternoon for a First Nation community just outside Wawa that saw its only road connection destroyed.
Ontario Provincial Police say 25 members of the Michipicoten First Nation, such as the elderly and those with medical conditions, are being taken out of the community.
Police say phone lines and 911 service in the communities of Dubreuilville, Hawk Junction and Missinabie remain unavailable.
Nowicki says Wawa remains in a state of emergency.
She said it came as a shock to see the highway washed away by floods caused by the rain.
"This is a one in a 100 year thing," she said, adding the road was in good condition until the deluge.
"This is just a freak storm that lasted too long and came too quickly."
