Out of sandbags: Floodwaters threaten this Haliburton County town
Major flooding is impacting the township of Minden Hills, Ont., prompting officials to begin preparing for possible evacuations and impactful closures.
Warm temperatures and heavy rains have created major troubles for the township of Minden Hills, Ont., in Haliburton County. The township declared a state of emergency on Tuesday as water levels on the Gull River, which runs through town, exceeded the riverbanks, causing major flooding to several roads throughout the community.
The flooding is also threatening a critical bridge that runs through town, connecting residents on either side of the river. Officials closed the bridge on Friday morning as water levels continued to climb to threatening heights.
"The Sunnybrook bridge will be closed to all traffic. This includes vehicles and pedestrians until further notice," a press release from the town states. "This measure is being implemented after the Emergency Control Group has reviewed the water levels, the ongoing snowmelt and weather forecast. At the Emergency Management meeting this morning, it was agreed the bridges need to be closed for public safety."
This, along with other main road closures from the flooding, will turn what would normally be a 5 to 10 minute commute across town into a 1+ hour commute, as well as cut off half of the community from emergency services.
The water level is reaching dangerously close to the bridge that connects half of Minden to the other half. (Victoria Fenn Alvarado/TWN)
Volunteers throughout the community have also been stepping up to fill sandbags in an effort to contain the flooding and mitigate the impacts. With some folks working in 10 hour shifts since Tuesday, all 25,000 sandbags available were filled by Friday morning.
An evacuation centre is also being prepared at the local community centre. Once open in the coming days, it will provide food and shelter for anyone displaced by the floods.
Floodwaters in Minden Hills, Ont., on April 17, 2026 (Victoria Fenn Alvarado/TWN)
Looking ahead at Minden's forecast
Conditions are expected to stay dry on Friday, which should hopefully help give the ground time to absorb some of the floodwater. Saturday, however, we'll see a strong cold front move through in the afternoon, bringing another 10-20 mm of rain to the area.
On top of the additional rainfall, temperatures will also drop to near-freezing on Saturday.
Luckily, the long-range pattern looks to cut off the moisture-laden storms from the U.S. A few clippers are expected to move through, but with less precipitation and longer breaks in between the rounds of active weather. All in all, next week is so far looking to be drier, but temperatures will stay chilly and below normal.
Stay tuned to The Weather Network for live updates on the flooding in Minden as the situation continues to unfold.