Another day of concerning high water levels has people in Simcoe County and Muskoka bracing for what could come in the next 48 hours. “It’s a wait-and-see game over the next eight days and our sump pumps are running and we pray that the power doesn’t go out because that’s what we depend on,” says Kelly Bentley, a Bracebridge resident. High water levels are high in several communities including Washago and Bracebridge which have closed four roads and several others on the brink. “The system from up in the north is moving through. It’s not unexpected that we’re seeing high levels. We are kind of taking it at this point hour by hour, minute by minute,” says Bracebridge Mayor Rick Maloney. The Ministry of Natural Resources told local officials Wednesday it expects the flooding to get worse in the coming days, possibly reaching similar levels from the 2019 floods that forced the town to declare a state of emergency. Bracebridge now has five separate sand bagging stations set up for residents free of charge. Even Santa’s Village hasn’t been able to escape the flooding. “Yeah, we are expecting that it will probably get worse before it gets better,” says Tatiana Sutherland from Santa’s Village. “That’s what the forecast has in store so we are just trying to keep on top of it just like everybody else.” It’s more of the same up in Huntsville. Some roads are covered in water, making it near impossible to get through. “Once it gets up to where it threatens my house there is no way I can get out to get sand bags or do anything so I watch it kind of closely,” says Brian DeLong, a Bracebridge resident. “It could go either way - it could come back up or it could just keep going down.” The total number of roads closed across Muskoka and Simcoe County continues to increase by the day. With more rain in the forecast, Maloney says he will have to decide in the coming days whether or not to declare a state of emergency.
