Rain pouring into southern Manitoba
Rain, and lots of it, is heading for all of southern Manitoba.
The downpour began Thursday morning and is expected to continue through Friday night.
Areas near and including Riding Mountain National Park are under a rainfall warning and will see the heaviest amounts — up to 75 millimetres.
Winds will also be gusting as high as 60 kilometres an hour in that region, which includes Minnedosa, Neepawa and Russell.
A rainfall warning is in effect for Ste. Rose, McCreary, Alonsa and Gladstone. Winnipeg won't get as much rain as those areas, but up to 60 millimetres is expected to fall over the next two days.
"Other parts of southern Manitoba will see periods of rain, at times heavy, with some thunderstorms at times near the international border," according to Environment Canada.
A high water advisory has also been issued for small streams and tributaries across southern Manitoba.
A flood warning continues for the Assiniboine River from Virden to Grand Valley, while a flood watch is in effect for low-lying areas along the Souris River.
Greg Rabe, whose farmland borders the Assiniboine near Whitehead, Man., says the river has already spilled over once this year, and it's looking full right now.
"If we get a whole bunch of rain, I'm pretty sure the river will come up over the banks and flood it out again," he told CBC News.
"And [it] just got inside the banks last night so it's not going to look good, I don't think."
Rabe said if the river floods again, his land will be too wet to plant his flax seeds.
If that's the case, he said he would have to collect crop insurance again this year.
"In 2011, of course, no crop at all. Last year [I] had it all in and then it flooded in July, so I lost all of my crop down in the valley again," he said.
"It looks like there's going to be nothing this year."
Prompted by the forecast, the City of Winnipeg has issued a warning about the increased risk of basement flooding.
Overloaded storm sewers can back up through house sewer lines and flow into basements not protected by backwater valves or sump pumps.
The Red River, still bloated from spring runoff, is at 16.2 feet at James Avenue, or about 10 feet above normal summer water levels.
Although basement flooding is a risk at any time of the year, the risk increases with high river levels because the sewer system must then rely heavily on temporary pumps and pumping stations rather than gravity to discharge the rainfall runoff to our rivers.
