Flood Watch

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/04/2009 (6268 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Newest developments:

Evacuation information kits were distributed to about 150 households on Kingston Crescent, Forbes Road and Christie Road Wednesday by the City of Winnipeg. Residents there were warned they could be evacuated if ice jams result in an unexpected and sudden rise in river levels.

The province partially raised the Red River Floodway gates on Wednesday after river levels in south Winnipeg rose two feet higher than anticipated by morning. The partial deployment of the gates is expected to minimize ice diversion into the floodway while holding city river levels to a manageable 18.5 feet at James Avenue. Use of the floodway was deemed necessary to prevent flooding and sewer backup in city homes. Ice stubbornly remains on the Red River in and around the city, despite high river flows — a situation Steve Topping, the province’s top flood fighter, says may be unprecedented. Ice is flowing into the floodway channel and lodging against the St. Mary’s Road Bridge. It’s being removed with long-reach backhoes. In Winnipeg, the ice on the Red River began moving between Bishop Grandin Boulevard and the Elm Park Bridge, but it remains intact in all other areas.

An ice jam remains just south of the steam plant near East Selkirk, but is weakening. Levels upstream of the jam had declined by up to two feet since Tuesday. The river level at Lockport dropped a further nine inches on Wednesday.

Overland flooding is expected in many parts of the Red River Valley, especially from the Red River east to the Ontario border beginning on Easter weekend and continuing next week. Flooding is expected to subside by late next week after drainage systems are cleared of ice. Minor flooding could occur on the Roseau River in the Stuartburn area and on the Seine River near Dufresne and Lorette before ice clears in the river channels early next week.

 

Trouble spots:

THREE bridges — the Louise, Redwood and South Perimeter — remain the focus of Winnipeg’s flood-fighting anxiety, and icebreaking and removal equipment is being deployed there.

 

Weather impact:

OTHER than a chance of showers on Easter Sunday, there is no precipitation expected in the next five days — good news for flood fighters.

 

Quote of the day:

‘An evacuation is very unlikely unless Mother Nature deals us a bad hand’

— Randy Hull, City of Winnipeg, emergency preparedness co-ordinator