Spring flooding has forced hundreds of people to leave the northern Ontario reserve of Kashechewan.

About 750 people, of a total population of 1,750, had been flown south from the James Bay community to Geraldton and Cochrane late Sunday afternoon, Chief Leo Friday told CBC News Online.

Kashechewan declared a state of emergency Saturday when water levels rose quickly and asked for immediate help from the province.

Starting with old people and infants on the first day, about 350 people were flown to Cochrane by Sunday morning and 400 were being flown to Geraldton on Sunday.

Julian Fantino, Ontario's commissioner of emergency management, said as many as 900 could be flown out.

Friday said there's both good and bad news in the fight against the flooded Albany River.

Kashechewan's airstrip has been too wet to use – the evacuees are being flown by helicopter to nearby Fort Albany, and then south by plane – but workers started at 6 a.m. Sunday to compact the surface.

"It may be solid enough to be used" on Monday, and a plane will attempt a landing in the morning," the chief said.

But the dike that protects the community is leaking and basements are already flooded.

"At this point it's starting to leak slowly," Friday said. "Our generators may be flooded tomorrow."

On Sunday afternoon, Kashechewan asked for pumps to be brought from Moosonee. "If we can have at least a couple of pumps, we can save the whole community from being damaged," he said.

There is also a drinking water problem. Ice has taken the water-treatment plant out of service and the remaining residents are drinking water that was delivered, but Friday is not sure how long it will last.

The community has asked the federal Department of Indian Affairs to bring in more water.

Fantino said the flooding is unrelated to problems that forced the evacuation of more than 1,100 Kashechewan residents in the fall of 2005.

"This problem has nothing to do with the quality of the community's water," he said.

The water level receded by about half a metre early Sunday, but is still 3½ to 4½ metres higher than normal, the province said in a release.

Friday said people are 'cranky' with the federal government, which is responsible for the infrastructure, and has rejected local proposals as too expensive, he said.

"They're really pissed off at the (federal) government for not making the infrastructure work."

For example, the community wanted above-ground steel storage tanks for the water plant, but got below-ground concrete ones, which get contaminated by ground water.

The flooding is Kashechewan's third water-related problem in a year.

About 200 people were flown off the reserve last spring when the Albany River broke through the dike and flooded some homes.

Then in the fall, water-quality issues sparked a mass evacuation.