Photo gallery: Looking back on the flood of 1997 Posted: Last Modified:

The 1997 Red River flood was the worst to hit southern Manitoba in 145 years.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/04/2022 (1537 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The 1997 Red River flood was the worst to hit southern Manitoba in 145 years.

Before the month-long flood was over, nearly 350,000 acres of farmland was submerged, approximately 350 farmers were affected and about 25,000 residents — 7,000 of them in Winnipeg — were evacuated from their homes.

The river peaked in the city on May 3 and 4.

A group of friends and volunteers south of Winnipeg work furiously to complete a ring dike to save a family’s farm from ruin. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)
A group of friends and volunteers south of Winnipeg work furiously to complete a ring dike to save a family’s farm from ruin. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)

The Red Sea was a massive body of water — 20 kilometres wide at the American border and about 40 kilometres wide just south of Winnipeg — spreading at will across the valley’s flat farmland.

Before it was done, about 8,500 members of the armed forces were deployed here, the biggest Canadian military operation since the Korean War.

The intense weight of sandbags was a concern on Scotia Street. (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files)
The intense weight of sandbags was a concern on Scotia Street. (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files)
The crumbled remains of a section of Highway 75. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)
The crumbled remains of a section of Highway 75. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Manitoba Hydro worker Dave Crowe sits on piles of empty sand bags in Ste. Agathe. He and a few other essential workers were the only ones allowed to return after the town was evacuated. (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Manitoba Hydro worker Dave Crowe sits on piles of empty sand bags in Ste. Agathe. He and a few other essential workers were the only ones allowed to return after the town was evacuated. (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Soldiers of the Third Battalion Princess Patricias shore up a dike southeast of Winnipeg around Grande Pointe in spring 1997 as water backed up from the Winnipeg Floodway. (Ken Gigliotti / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Soldiers of the Third Battalion Princess Patricias shore up a dike southeast of Winnipeg around Grande Pointe in spring 1997 as water backed up from the Winnipeg Floodway. (Ken Gigliotti / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Soldiers load boats off the Floodway embankment with sandbags destined for threatened communities south of Winnipeg. (Jeff Debooy / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Soldiers load boats off the Floodway embankment with sandbags destined for threatened communities south of Winnipeg. (Jeff Debooy / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Navy Zodiacs deliver sandbags to a Winnipeg property. (Jeff Debooy / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Navy Zodiacs deliver sandbags to a Winnipeg property. (Jeff Debooy / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Diking homes on Scotia Street became a full-time job for many volunteers. (Ken Gigliotti / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Diking homes on Scotia Street became a full-time job for many volunteers. (Ken Gigliotti / Winnipeg Free Press files)
A warning sign sits almost completely submerged by the flood waters of the Red River near downtown Winnipeg in April 1997.(Tom Hanson / The Canadian Press files)
A warning sign sits almost completely submerged by the flood waters of the Red River near downtown Winnipeg in April 1997.(Tom Hanson / The Canadian Press files)
It was a wet trek finding a way into Grande Pointe. (Marc Gallant / Winnipeg Free Press files)
It was a wet trek finding a way into Grande Pointe. (Marc Gallant / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Ken Arnason, a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary from Gimli, beaches his Zodiac along Highway 330. (Jeff Debooy / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Ken Arnason, a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary from Gimli, beaches his Zodiac along Highway 330. (Jeff Debooy / Winnipeg Free Press files)
A boat heads toward a diked home in the RM of Ritchot. (Winnipeg Free Press files)
A boat heads toward a diked home in the RM of Ritchot. (Winnipeg Free Press files)
Hundreds of volunteer sandbaggers and boaters respond to Grande Pointe’s plea for help in May 1997. (Ken Gigliotti / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Hundreds of volunteer sandbaggers and boaters respond to Grande Pointe’s plea for help in May 1997. (Ken Gigliotti / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Grande Pointe resident Ed Hallama returned home to find 100-year-old photographs of his grandparents damaged by flood waters. (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Grande Pointe resident Ed Hallama returned home to find 100-year-old photographs of his grandparents damaged by flood waters. (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files)
A radio-equipped soldier patrols dikes around a home on St. Mary’s Road south of Winnipeg. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)
A radio-equipped soldier patrols dikes around a home on St. Mary’s Road south of Winnipeg. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Marc Bruneau took to the water to check on his neighbours’ diked homes in Grande Pointe. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Marc Bruneau took to the water to check on his neighbours’ diked homes in Grande Pointe. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)
A canoe sits on the side of Highway 59 as traffic continues to travel the flood-soaked road. (Beth A. Keiser / The Associated Press files)
A canoe sits on the side of Highway 59 as traffic continues to travel the flood-soaked road. (Beth A. Keiser / The Associated Press files)
Boats navigate flooded roadways south of Winnipeg near Morris. (Ken Gigliotti / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Boats navigate flooded roadways south of Winnipeg near Morris. (Ken Gigliotti / Winnipeg Free Press files)
The Canadian Mechanized Brigade of Edmonton was on the scene to help Harry Waldner of La Salle repair his leaking dike. (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files)
The Canadian Mechanized Brigade of Edmonton was on the scene to help Harry Waldner of La Salle repair his leaking dike. (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Stretches of Highway 75, the province’s main route south from Winnipeg, were completely washed out. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Stretches of Highway 75, the province’s main route south from Winnipeg, were completely washed out. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Related Articles

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun files Manitoba Hydro is still betting on natural gas generating stations — like this one in Brandon — instead of considering battery storage solutions for peak energy needs.

If it works in Ontario, why not in Manitoba?

James Wilt 5 minute read Preview

If it works in Ontario, why not in Manitoba?

James Wilt 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Grid-scale battery storage has fundamentally changed the global energy landscape — and Manitoba needs to get on board.

Battery systems store large amounts of excess electricity for when it’s most needed. While they can be charged from any generation source, they are especially beneficial for integrating wind and solar power, which vary with weather and time of day. Batteries allow electrical grids to meet the need for firm, dispatchable and affordable capacity using renewable energy, rather than relying on coal, nuclear and fossil gas. They also provide numerous other benefits, including reducing overloading of transmission infrastructure and helping to regulate the grid’s frequency and voltage.

Average costs for grid-scale batteries plummeted by more than half between 2023 and 2025 and installations have skyrocketed in China, the U.S., Australia and Europe. Texas now has 16,500 megawatts (MW) of battery storage, while California has 15,200 MW. Closer to home, Ontario recently awarded 640 MW of contracts to three battery storage projects in a competitive auction, with batteries beating out fossil gas-fired power plants on cost every time. One of these projects will be built near Dryden, only four hours east of Winnipeg.

Each battery system will provide eight hours of capacity but will cost considerably less than Ontario’s previous battery procurements, which provide only four hours of capacity. With this latest auction, Ontario has now secured 3,600 MW of battery storage capacity, including the operational Oneida (250 MW), Hagersville (300 MW) and Napanee (250 MW) projects. Almost all have significant Indigenous participation, with the latest procurements boasting 50 per cent First Nations ownership.

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Bistyek says he’s constantly inspired by the Exchange District.

Artist Bistyek enjoys the freedom of living a creative life in full colour

Ben Waldman 7 minute read Preview

Artist Bistyek enjoys the freedom of living a creative life in full colour

Ben Waldman 7 minute read Updated: 1:25 PM CDT

In pants nearly as wide at the ankle as a downtown sidewalk, Bistyek cuts a striking silhouette on his daily marches through the Exchange District, an area the painter has made his muse since arriving in Winnipeg nine years ago.

He likes it here, loves it even, but as he’s established himself as one of the city’s most vibrant visual artists — with a street-honed style that pays homage to both Japanese anime series Dragon Ball Z and graffiti-inspired American painter Jean-Michel Basquiat — Bistyek won’t forget where he came from: he can’t.

Though the 30-year-old has built an enviable life here, he’s eminently aware that his circumstances are defined as much by sheer luck as they are by determination or talent. When he was growing up in Afrin, a village in Syria, his family was torn apart by civil war and discrimination against the Kurdish minority under the rule of dictator Bashar al Assad.

“I was living in Lebanon as a refugee for seven years, with a big group of friends, but day after day they started to cross the sea from Turkey or Greece. Some of them made it, some of them did not,” says the artist born Ormeya Zagros. “I turned to Mom and said, ‘I want to go across the sea. I cannot stay here. I don’t see a future here. I don’t see opportunities. There is so much discrimination and racism. I cannot build a life.’”

Read
Updated: 1:25 PM CDT
A post on MITT’s website says it has seen international enrolment drop by more than 55 per cent. (Ruth Bonneville/Winnipeg Free Press files)

Confusion part of syllabus as MITT winds down operations

Morgan Modjeski 5 minute read Preview

Confusion part of syllabus as MITT winds down operations

Morgan Modjeski 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:49 PM CDT

More than 500 students are trying to complete their courses before the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology permanently closes.

Manpreet Singh, who is set to graduate from the electrical applications program in the fall, said finishing his studies is a confusing and anxiety-inducing process despite the promise it would go smoothly.

“Nobody has a clear image,” he said.

Officials said in January the post-secondary institute was no longer financially viable because of the federal government’s decision to cut the number of international students allowed to study in Canada. Nineteen of its programs are being absorbed by Red River College Polytech, which is taking over the institute’s campuses in south Winnipeg.

Read
Yesterday at 2:49 PM CDT
BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS Folk Fest attendee Jayme Halbritter, 34, from Minneapolis, Minn., takes a sip of water while holding a parasol to try to keep cool on an extremely hot summer day while Yagódy performs on the Snowberry Field Stage at the Winnipeg Folk Festival at Birds Hill Provincial Park on Sunday.

First-aid volunteers treat folk fest attendees suffering from heat

Eva Wasney and Jill Wilson 4 minute read Preview

First-aid volunteers treat folk fest attendees suffering from heat

Eva Wasney and Jill Wilson 4 minute read Sunday, Jul. 12, 2026

Shade was at a premium at Birds Hill Provincial Park over the weekend as Winnipeg Folk Festival goers tried to keep cool during an extreme heat wave.

Heat warnings were issued across southern Manitoba and temperatures peaked at 35 C Sunday afternoon.

First-aid volunteers were seen administering cold compresses to several overheated attendees. STARS air ambulance responded to a medical call at the park on Saturday night, but did not transport the patient to hospital. By Sunday at noon, EMS had been called to the festival nine times.

“This is not an unusual number of calls for us or other events of our size,” festival executive director Valerie Shantz said.

Read
Sunday, Jul. 12, 2026
RCMP Dauphin RCMP seized 439 firearms, including an antique cannon, from former member of Parliament Inky Mark’s property last week.

Former Manitoba MP Inky Mark charged with firearms offences; more than 400 weapons seized from home

Tyler Searle 6 minute read Preview

Former Manitoba MP Inky Mark charged with firearms offences; more than 400 weapons seized from home

Tyler Searle 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:11 PM CDT

A former member of Parliament from Manitoba has been charged after a stockpile of ammunition and firearms — including an antique cannon — and $300,000 in cash were seized from a Dauphin home last week.

Manitoba RCMP charged Inky Mark, 78, with a dozen firearms-related charges, including firearms trafficking, possession of property obtained by crime, unsafe storage and careless use of a firearm.

In total, RCMP seized 439 firearms from Mark’s property, Mounties said at a news conference Monday morning.

It is expected to take investigators weeks to sort through the arsenal and determine how many of the weapons were legally possessed, but police have already identified three guns that are believed to have been illegally trafficked, and one that had a tampered serial number, RCMP Cpl. Barry Kirby said.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 6:11 PM CDT
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press files)

Carney trumps Trump with Gordie Howe bridge deal

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

Carney trumps Trump with Gordie Howe bridge deal

Dan Lett 5 minute read Yesterday at 5:15 PM CDT

The dispute over the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge was always and only going to end when U.S. President Donald Trump could declare he had got the better deal.

Even when he didn’t.

Trump gleefully posted on social media Saturday that after refusing to allow the completed bridge between Windsor and Detroit to open in late June, he got a “MUCH BETTER DEAL” from Prime Minister Mark Carney. Political opponents and a handful of opinion writers rushed to shake their heads at how Carney was used and abused by the big fella in Washington.

It’s not surprising that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would do an end-zone dance as he lamented Carney’s “terrible deal; the leader of the official Opposition’s default setting is “condemn.”

Read
Yesterday at 5:15 PM CDT