Hundreds ordered to evacuate as homes, cottages threatened

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/06/2011 (5587 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HUNDREDS of residents and cottagers on Lake Manitoba and other flood-prone parts of the province were ordered to get out of their properties late Tuesday so they’re out of harm’s way from high winds and high waves.

Evacuation orders extended to the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, Ochre River, Alonsa, Twin Lakes Beach and Delta. How long people are out of their properties — and some have refused to leave — depends on the damage caused by waves pounding the shore and the extent of flooding submerging roads.

“Wow! You gotta be here to appreciate this wind,” one cottager emailed the Free Press late Tuesday afternoon.

“I’ve never seen the lake soooooo angry. Government must have pissed it off by pumping so much dirty water into it. If we make it through this one we should be safe through anything.”

The province asks residents and cottagers to move themselves and important belongings to higher ground or to alternative sites.

Areas under mandatory evacuation include 80 properties (20 permanent homes) in the RM of St. Laurent, 68 properties (10 permanent homes) in the RM of Woodlands and residences in Delta Beach.– Evacuees are asked to register by telephone with the Red Cross at 1-888-662-3211. The evacuation notice took effect at 6 p.m. Tuesday and continues until further notice.

Lake Manitoba has been inundated in the past month by flood water from western Manitoba via the Portage Diversion and the Waterhen River.

Besides high waves, high rains predicted over the next few days are expected to cause overland flooding in some areas of Brandon and other areas in southern Manitoba. Sprague saw 88 millimetres and Boissevain and Minot, N.D., got hit with 64 mm of rain.

Provincial flood forecasters say based on recent rainfall, the Souris and Assiniboine rivers will rise. Preliminary estimates say water levels on the Assiniboine River at the First Street Bridge in Brandon could increase to between 1,180 and 1,180.5 feet above sea level during the second week of June. This morning Brandon was at 1,177.26 feet.

Wind warnings also extend to Lake Winnipeg, Lake Winnipegosis, the Shoal Lakes, Dauphin, Oak, Pelican and Rock lakes, and other lakes across Manitoba.

Property owners around Lake Manitoba have called a public meeting for Wednesday to demand that the province provide a permanent solution to prevent a repeat of this year’s flood-related damage.

Organizers say man-made decisions to flow water into the lake without providing an adequate outlet are raising water levels and consuming residents’ properties and livelihoods.

“I watch Lake Manitoba consume my farm, inch by inch, each year becoming a wider span,” said Joe Johnson of Langruth, the public meeting’s chief organizer.

“I have 580 acres of lakefront property, which I started losing in 1976, and have not had an inch of use of it since 1995.”

The public meeting will take place Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Langruth Hall.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca