Update Message #4 from Mayor Bob Carter on the State of Emergency - April 23, 2026

Update Message #4 from Mayor Bob Carter on the State of Emergency

Dated: April 23, 2026

A further bit of good news.

As most of you know by now, we were able to get successful assessments of our two bridges in Minden on Wednesday, and we were able to safely reopen the bridges. Road crews are out examining our roads, culverts and bridges throughout the Township to assess post flood damages.

Water levels will remain high and will fluctuate as Parks Canada continues to bring the lakes above town back to their normal levels. With the better weather, we are able to have a managed and controlled release of waters. There is a forecast for a little bit of rain later in the week. As long as we get no unexpected rain events, we should be able to move into clean-up mode quickly.

During the emergency, we continued to fill sandbags to be prepared for anything coming our way. Thankfully, we did not need to use all the sandbags that were filled. We will keep a strategic reserve, but they need to be stored indoors to protect them from the elements. Yesterday, we reached out to neighbouring municipalities, who are still flooding, to offer them some of our pre-filled sandbags. This morning we shared some of our supply with Bracebridge, Oro-Medonte, and Ramara. Our hard work will help some of our neighbours.

Photo: Mayor Carter, Township of Minden Hills Staff and Town of Bracebridge Staff

We ask for the community's patience as we develop our clean up and recovery plans. Further details will be available over the next week.

Stay safe,

Bob Carter, Mayor
Township of Minden Hills