As many as 2,000 people were expected to be airlifted Sunday from three communities in northern Ontario after rapidly rising water levels and melting ice prompted local leaders to declare an emergency.Residents of Port Albany were flow to safety aboard a Cormorant helicopter on Sunday (Halina Folfas/DND)

The rising Albany River is threatening the communities of Kashechewan and Fort Albany near James Bay. Rising water levels were also threatening the community of Attawapiskat.

Hundreds of the most vulnerable residents were the first to be evacuated by plane on Friday and over the weekend. They were put up in motels, hotels or other accommodations in Cochrane, Greenstone, Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

The Ontario communities of Kapuskasing, Elliot Lake and Geraldton and as far south as Stratford will also be receiving people.

The evacuation plan had been in place for about a year, and the federal and provincial governments were awaiting a call from the community to kick their plans into gear, said Barry Radford, a spokesman for Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources in Huntsville, Ont.

Radford said the evacuations would depend on the weather and the water levels: "That'll determine when we start and when we finish," he said.

Although Kashechewan is perennially beset by flooding, conditions this year are particularly bad, Radford said.

Residents are expected to be away from home for six to eight weeks.

With files from the Canadian Press