Manitobans watch river, snow levels amid flood worries
People across southern and central Manitoba, including some residents of south Winnipeg, are closely watching water and snow levels amid continued flood concerns.
In Winnipeg, where levels on the Red River have been rising since the weekend, seven low-lying properties in the south end are being protected by sandbag dikes.
The city has warned 11 other property owners that they're on a "watch list" of homes that may need to have sandbag dikes built if river levels continue to rise.
"We're not really happy about it, but there's nothing we can do," said Grace Davies, who already received sandbags from the city on Monday for her home on Cloutier Drive.
"We are worried. Really, really worried."
Since Saturday, both the Red and Assiniboine rivers have gone up dramatically.
Both the Red River Floodway and the Portage Diversion, which diverts water from the Assiniboine River towards Lake Manitoba, were activated on Monday.
In its latest flood bulletin, issued on Tuesday, provincial officials said 10 homes in Gladstone, Man., have already experienced minor flooding due to ice jams against a bridge along the Whitemud River.
The local health centre needed some sandbagging on a road access point, but the centre itself was not at risk, according to the province.
Overland flooding has also hit homes in Benito, a village near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border.
Mayor Marilyn Meadows said local officials were monitoring the spring melt this past weekend when a flash flood hit a low-lying corner of the community on Sunday.
"All of a sudden it just let go, and that was it. There was nothing we could do," Meadows told CBC News.
"Saturday was a beautiful day, and then all of a sudden [on] Sunday at four o'clock everything broke loose."
Meadows said one home was evacuated and seven or eight homes are now protected by dikes. Crews are still pumping water, she added.
But while the worst of the threat has subsided, Meadows said the village received a lot of snow over the last two days that has yet to melt, posing another flood risk.
"We're not moving anything and everybody's on standby, and we're prepared for whatever is going to come again — hopefully not," she said.
Meadows said the village of about 400 is dealing with overland flooding for the third year in a row — an exercise, she said, that is costly for such a small community.
The rural municipalities of Cornwallis, Cameron and Whitewater have declared states of local emergency due to flood concerns.
The province said a flood warning remains in effect for the Swan River and its tributaries and the Whitemud River.
A high water advisory is in effect for the Pembina River and smaller tributaries and drains in the Dauphin and Swan River areas.
Officials said strong wind warnings are in effect for Lake Winnipeg, Lake Manitoba, Lake Winnipegosis, Lake St. Martin and the Shoal lakes. Strong winds could create high piles of ice on those lakes, according to the province.
"We're also seeing the melt, we're seeing some significant movement of water. So, we are into the flood," said Steve Ashton, the province's emergency measures minister.
