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REPLAY: Ice jam season over, says province at flood update

Selinger takes aerial tour of flooded Assiniboine

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 04/18/2011 12:37 PM | Comments: 0 | Last Modified: 04/18/2011 4:04 PM | Updates

Water surrounds Pat McKenzie’s home in the RM of Cornwallis, southeast of Brandon, on Thursday. Overland flooding has forced 22 people in the Westman area to evacuate. (SUBMITTED)

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WINNIPEG - Ice jam season on the Red and Assiniboine rivers is over.

"I can confidently say we’re dealing with open water now on the Assiniboine River system," Manitoba’s senior flood-fighter, Steve Topping, said this afternoon. "There is a bit of an ice jam in Brandon that released yesterday, but that will dissipate."

The Red River is free of ice, he added.

However, it doesn’t mean the flood battle is over. The anticipated crest for both rivers in Winnipeg is still several days away.

Ice jams along the Assiniboine on Sunday caused water surges along the river and overtopped and breached dikes between Poplar Point and Baie St. Paul Bridge. Two families in the area were evacuated.

Dike repairs and reinforcements were conducted in the area as the ice slowly moved along the river and a secondary dike was quickly built in one area. Water rose and then fell by close to six feet in some areas as the ice moved through, the province said in its latest flood bulletin.

Premier Greg Selinger got a bird’s eye view of the Assiniboine River between Headingley and Portage la Prairie this morning. He reported seeing flooding at the Poplar Point Hutterite Colony. However, provincial officials said flooding at the colony was not that significant.

Meanwhile, the province said that although 693 Manitobans have now been evacuated from their homes as a precaution, only a half dozen homes have actually been flooded out.

The province issued a new flood update at 2:30 p.m. Watch a replay of the event below.

History

Updated on Monday, April 18, 2011 at 3:22 PM CDT: Adds video replay code

4:04 PM: Updates with new text summarizing flood situation.

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