The Trans-Canada Highway in the Northern Ontario town of Wawa may not be fully operational for at least another week.

A stretch of the road was washed out Thursday when heavy rain turned a local creek into a raging river.

Mayor Linda Nowicki said nobody could have predicated the heavy rains would do that much damage.

“This is a once in a 100-year thing, the road was in very good condition, I’ve seen comments about they could have designed the road better,” Nowicki said.

“Well, you can design a road all you want but when a little creek suddenly turns into a major flowing river with waterfalls, the road isn’t going to hold,” she added.

Crews have to repair 15-metre holes in the road, and although the southbound lanes may open by Monday, the northbound lanes have much longer to go.

Evacuations are underway for a nearby First Nations community that now has no road access, and 25 vulnerable members of the community have been airlifted to Wawa.

Wawa is 160-kilometres north of Sault Ste. Marie.