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Kawartha Lakes – The City of Kawartha Lakes Emergency Operations Centre met today to assess ongoing storm recovery efforts and plan for the next phase of clean up. Premier Ford visited on the weekend to understand the extent of the damage. The Premier thanked front line staff including Fire, Paramedics, OPP and Kawartha Lakes Police Services. MPP Laurie Scott also attended.
Mayor Elmslie commented on the visit, “I appreciated that the Premier came to witness the hardest hit areas and open the dialogue on support.”
Key updates:
- Hydro One confirms that 99.9% of all customers have power restored in the greater Kawartha Lakes area.
- Residents without power are reminded to contact Hydro One directly by calling 1-800-434-1235 or online at https://hydroone.ifactornotifi.com/ui/m/outage-reporting.
- The Declaration of a Significant Weather Event has been lifted.
- Warming centres across the municipality remain until end of day today, April 14.
- Food waste bins remain available at Fenelon Falls Community Centre and Coboconk Service Centre until April 20.
- Unlimited debris dropoff at landfills is free of charge until April 20.
- Localized flooding is imminent in flood prone areas. Please exercise caution around all rivers, streams and lakes. See current flood outlook messaging:
- Kawartha Conservation has extended their Flood Warning until noon on Thursday April 17.
- Flood Watch is in effect in the MNR Bracebridge-Minden-Parry Sound District for portions of the District Municipality of Muskoka and County of Haliburton for the Black, Gull and Muskoka River Watersheds.
- Watershed Conditions Statement - Flood Outlook is in effect in the MNR Bracebridge-Minden-Parry Sound District for the portions of the County of Haliburton and Territorial District of Parry Sound for the Boyne, Burnt, French, Magnetawan, Pickerel and Seguin River Watersheds.
- A municipal Burn Ban remains in effect for the month of April. Grass fires can catch quickly and pose a significant hazard at this time of year; avoidable fire response calls have already been registered this season.
What’s Open and Closed April 14
Warming Centres
- Fenelon Falls Community Centre 10am to 8pm, through end of day on Monday April 14. Shower access is on a first come first serve/walk-in basis, please bring towels and toiletries.
- Burnt River Fire Station 8am to 6pm, through end of day on Monday April 14. Bottled water will be available – courtesy of Sobeys, along with charging and warm rooms.
- The Lindsay Recreation Complex and Bobcaygeon Service Centre will continue to be open and staffed during regular hours for residents who would like to charge devices, access water or warm up.
Landfills
All landfills open regular winter hours:
Eldon: Wednesday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 11am to 5pm
Laxton: Thursday 11am to 5pm, Sunday 12pm to 4pm
Lindsay Ops: Monday to Saturday* 8am to 5pm
Somerville: Monday, Friday* and Saturday 9am to 5pm
*Note: All landfills are closed on Friday April 18 for Good Friday
Waste Bins for Spoiled Food Drop-off
Those that wish to drop off your spoiled food waste ahead of regularly scheduled collections can do so at the below locations:
- Coboconk Service Centre, 8:30 am to 4:30pm
- Fenelon Falls Community Centre, 10am to 8pm
The spoiled food bins will be removed on April 20, 2025.
Waste Collection
- Storm debris: Waived tipping fees will end April 20 with regular tipping fees applying as of April 21. Regular leaf and yard debris that weighs under 250kg remains free of charge.
- Storm debris cleanup by the municipality: For those who can’t access landfill, we will be picking up and/or chipping storm tree and brush debris when resources shift from immediate emergency response to future clean up and recovery, toward the end of April. In some areas of the municipality, contractors and neighbouring municipalities are already assisting with cleanup. It will take some time to work through all areas, likely several weeks, so please be patient. We ask that you bring your storm tree and brush debris to the curb. Please don’t block sidewalks, road ways, lines of sight and ditches. Place storm debris in small piles at the edge of the sidewalk or roadside, ensuring the material is not obstructing pedestrian or vehicle traffic. Place cut or broken ends facing out towards the road. Please ensure that the debris is separated from other types of waste or yard materials. Branches larger than 8 inches in diameter and logs will not be picked up.
This program is not for regular Leaf and Yard waste. It is for storm tree and brush debris only. Please bag up your leaf, twig and small debris for regular spring Leaf and Yard Collection in June. Regular Leaf and Yard waste will not be collected during storm cleanup.
- Missed collection: If your collection was missed due to road accessibility for the past two collection cycles, triple collection (six bags) is permitted the week of April 14. For questions, please call Miller Waste at 1-888-557-4711 or contact the City’s Customer Service line at 705-324-9411.
- Organics: Friday April 18 is Good Friday, organics will not be picked up on Good Friday. Organics collection moves to Saturday April 19 this week. Please remove packaging from spoiled food before placing it in your organics rollout cart.
Community Paramedics Health and Well-being Checks
If you would like our Community Paramedics to check on a family member, friend, vulnerable person or whomever you are concerned about during storm recovery:
Customer Service: inquiries@kawarthalakes.ca or call 705-324-9411 ext. 0 (Mon to Fri, 8:30am to 4:30pm). Any requests received outside those hours will be responded to on the next business day.
Paramedics will call first, and if there’s no response, they’ll visit the address.
For emergencies, call 911.
Municipal Administration
All administrative buildings and Municipal Service Centres are open.
Libraries
As of noon on Monday April 14, 2025 all library branches are open for their regular hours with the exception of the Dalton branch. Please check the Kawartha Lakes Public Library website for hours and open locations.
All libraries will be closed on Good Friday (April 18).
Parks and Recreation
Parks use - please use all parks at your own risk. We are working on storm cleanup across all parks, however, hanging branches post a threat in some locations.
All programming and bookings are running as usual.
CLOSED: Boat Launches – all boat launches remain closed.
CLOSED: Victoria Rail Trail (VRT) is closed to motorized and non-motorized traffic until further notice for public safety.
Burn Ban
Burn Ban in Effect – April: No open fires. Brush can be taken to Lindsay Landfill or burned (with permit) in May.
Learn more about burn permits.
Flood Preparedness
- Kawartha Conservation has extended their Flood Warning until noon on Thursday April 17.
- Flood Watch is in effect in the MNR Bracebridge-Minden-Parry Sound District for portions of the District Municipality of Muskoka and County of Haliburton for the Black, Gull and Muskoka River Watersheds.
- Watershed Conditions Statement - Flood Outlook is in effect in the MNR Bracebridge-Minden-Parry Sound District for the portions of the County of Haliburton and Territorial District of Parry Sound for the Boyne, Burnt, French, Magnetawan, Pickerel and Seguin River Watersheds.
Fill-Your-Own Sandbags:
- Ward Park (Norland)
- Dalton Community Centre (Sebright)
- Chisholm Trail (near Amon Drive)
- Burnt River Community Centre
Contact and Reporting Info
Customer Service
Monday to Friday: 8:30am–4:30pm (705-324-9411 or 1-888-822-2225) Press 5 for Storm Updates
After hours emergencies: 1-877-885-7337
Stay Informed
- Call 911 for life-threatening emergencies
- Kawartha Lakes Police (Lindsay/Ops): 705-324-5252 (non-emergency)
- OPP (outside Lindsay/Ops): 1-888-310-1122
- Property damage? Contact your insurance company
- Website: www.kawarthalakes.ca/stormupdates
- Radio: Bounce 91.9 FM, Country 105.1 FM
- Social: Facebook, X (Twitter)
- Handouts at local stores, warming rooms, libraries and more
- Road closures: www.municipal511.ca
- Sign up for municipal alerts via Jump Inbox: www.kawarthalakes.ca/subscribe
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