No one in Mud Lake will ever forget May 17, 2017, when the unthinkable happened. Flood waters breached the banks of the channel, and there was no stopping the inundation. The river began to fill homes along the water. Both cemeteries were swamped.
Pieces of ice banging against the top of the Wallace McLean Bridge echoed eerily through the early morning hours, as people scrambled to put their families in boats and head to the evacuation sites. Search and Rescue helicopters collected people and animals wherever pilots could find a dry spot to land. When they couldn’t, people were hoisted up in baskets. Everyone was flown the 10-minute journey across the Churchill River to Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Full CBC Article Here
A few months later, Jacinda Beals, a strong and committed Labrador Land Protector recorded a series of videos abbot the personal experiences of the night of May 6 and morning of May 7. Here are two of those stories which reflects the raw emotions of that time. The mental toll is still playing out with some of these residents. While Nalcor disputes that the Muskrat Falls development caused this unusual flood, many of the Mud Lake residents (and others) refuse to believe that rhetoric.
Mega Dams create MEGA DAMAGE! Are you concerned about the Grand River and the impacts of hydro development? Follow our blog and stay tuned to the latest reports and studies on the subject! GrandRiverKeeper Labrador Inc. monitors what’s happening and will keep you posted on topics of interest. Follow this link. https://blog.grandriverkeeperlabrador.ca/
Our goal is to preserve and protect the water quality and the ecological integrity of the Grand (Churchill) River and its estuaries for present and future users and for posterity through actions of public awareness, monitoring, research, networking, intervention and habitat restoration. As such one of our key objectives is to bring awareness both locally and globally of the cumulative impacts associated with megadams that we become aware of through our research.
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