Souris faces third crest

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/06/2011 (5401 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Almost 3,000 Manitobans will spend the Canada Day weekend displaced from their homes because of spring flooding on the province’s rivers and lakes — flooding that will continue well into summer.

And more people could be evacuated in the coming hours as the Souris River rises in southwestern Manitoba, cutting off roads and threatening homes, businesses and farms, provincial and local officials said Monday. Melita, Souris and Wawanesa have all issued mandatory evacuations to many of their residents — the latest serving notice to residents of 35 properties in Wawanesa that they must be out by Wednesday.

As of Monday, 2,768 Manitobans remain out of their homes because of this year’s flooding.

For the three towns and others along the Souris, the coming flood crest on the river will be the third — and highest — since April.

“This is not the first crest. It’s not the second crest. It’s the third crest. It’s going to hit in July and it’s going to be worse than the previous crests,” Emergency Measures Minister Steve Ashton said. “It’s going to be a very significant challenge, but we are determined to do whatever it takes to meet it.”

Last week, the town of Melita, in the southwest corner of the province, figured it was almost ready for the Souris River flood.

“We thought we were getting pretty close, but then they bumped the forecast up another half a foot,” Mayor Bob Walker said Monday.

Now the town of 1,100 is adding a second line of defence to prepare for the crest forecast to arrive sometime from July 5 to 7.

“I have to be confident,” Walker said. “We’ve got the manpower. Lots of people are working.”

Downstream in Napinka, Hartney, Souris and Wawanesa, property owners and 24 residents of the Wawanesa personal care home are packing up and leaving.

Ashton said because of the coming flood, caused by intense rainstorms and the late melting of a deep snowpack in the Rockies, even more water will be diverted into Lake Manitoba via the Portage Diversion. The Lake Manitoba crest has been revised upwards to between 817.7 and 817.81 feet above sea level around July 24-26, depending on rainfall. The earlier forecast was 817.1.

The province is looking at what it can do to lower water levels on Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin to reduce the threat of wave damage to cottages and homes and from ice when the lakes break up next spring, Ashton said.

“This forecast is not good news,” he said. “A break in the weather would be nice right now, but we’re not counting on it.”

In Souris on Monday, Mayor Darryl Jackson took a break from fighting the rising water to present awards at the town’s high school graduation and to tell the students how much they’re appreciated.

“I just thanked the graduating class of 2011,” Jackson said. “They’ve done a lot of sandbagging for us over the last couple of months and I thanked them for their community spirit.”

He’s expecting they’ll be needed again to fill and stack sandbags starting today.

On Monday, heavy equipment was moving earth and placing “super sandbags” too heavy for humans to lift. Volunteers will soon be needed to go around corners and fill in the gaps, Jackson said.

On Monday afternoon, up to 93 homes had been evacuated in Souris, he said. Some residents have been out for a couple of weeks.

“Another set of people were evacuated by phone notice Friday and written notice (Sunday),” Jackson said. “They were to be out by four o’clock (Monday) afternoon.”

Provincial crews doing survey work on swollen Plum Creek said another row of homes in town may also have to be evacuated, he said.

The crest of the Souris River isn’t expected to hit Souris until sometime from July 6 to 10, but early evacuations have been necessary to help Souris prepare for the worst, the mayor said.

“We’ve gone in with chainsaws and cleared out a path through backyards; some garages and sheds have had to go,” he said. The changes will allow trucks in to build a seven- to 10-foot-high berm. With overhead power lines in the area, they’ve had to shut off hydro and evacuate the homes, he said.

“As soon as we can, hydro will be turned on,” added Jackson, who knows homeowners are relying on sump pumps to keep their basements dry.

Liliana Rodriguez worked all weekend and most of Monday to empty her home, which backs onto the Souris River. It was hard to know what to take first, but they made sure they had room for keepsakes like photos and favourite toys from when the kids were younger.

“For the kids, I try to stay as calm as possible. It is what it is, but family is what matters.” Her voice breaking, she added, “A house is just a house, right?”

Souris emergency co-ordinator Sven Kreusch said his focus is to secure the water treatment plant. Workers are widening and raising its dike.

“If it gets flooded, all of Souris will have to be evacuated,” Kreusch said.

The cables of Souris’ famed swinging bridge have been pulled taut so it has a better chance to withstand water. It currently is blocked off, high above its normal perch, but it still might not be out of the water’s reach, Kreusch said.

 

— with files from the Brandon Sun

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

 

Portage la Prairie crest July 9-15

THE flow of flood water from the Souris River will hit the Assiniboine River next week near Holland.

It means higher levels flowing down the Assiniboine and into the Portage Reservoir at Portage la Prairie. Flows are forecast to reach 47,000 to 53,000 cubic feet per second from July 9 to 15.

The range of the crest depends on how much rain falls between now and then. During the height of the spring flood in late April, 52,300 cfs flowed in the Portage Reservoir.

The Assiniboine River can handle about 18,000 cfs without compromising its dikes. The rest is sent out of the Portage Reservoir and through the Portage Diversion into Lake Manitoba.