Most homes in Falcon Lake not at risk: deputy fire chief

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This article was published 24/04/2016 (3785 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A week of sunny dry weather ahead should ease the fears of high water on Falcon and West Hawk lakes.

Only four or five cottages were ever potentially in any danger, South Whiteshell deputy fire chief Grant Fisette said from Caddy Lake Sunday morning.

“At Falcon, the cottages are high (elevation), except for three or four with boat houses. There’s a few low-lying cottages on the south shore, a handful. I would think it’s (water level) going to start going down again,” Fisette said.

The province issued a high-water advisory for Whiteshell lakes Saturday afternoon. Businesses in Falcon said people have been phoning since then, asking if their cottages are affected.

The Hydrologic Forecast Centre of Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation issued a high water advisory for Whiteshell lakes “as recent rainfall and late spring run-off are combining to raise water levels.”

The centre said that “West Hawk Lake is at the upper end of the operating range; Falcon Lake is above the operating range, and some cottages on low-lying lots may be at risk. Depending on future rainfall the high water may remain in place for up to a few weeks.”

A provincial official said Sunday that the government chose to err on the side of caution. The advisory situation will be prolonged, he said — Falcon drains so slowly that heavy rain a week from now could produce problems.

Sandbagging any cottages that could potentially be affected would be a local decision, said the provincial official.

Fisette said that all the lakes still have ice. Once that melts, the levels can drop more quickly. “The ice all goes in one day — the wave action breaks it up.”

Fisette said that Falcon drains more slowly because it drains into Shoal Lake, which shares roughly the same elevation. He joked that he’s alerted south Whiteshell restaurateurs that cottagers will be driving out this weekend to check their cabins.

“Here it looks like a normal spring,” he said. “Our lake was quite low, when we got an inch and a half of rain. The ice on Caddy will be gone by today,” said Fisette. West Hawk Lake drains into Caddy Lake.

Fisette said that what’s difficult for people seeking information is that the Manitoba Conservation office was closed Sunday. The advisory board was recently created, so people may not yet be used to hearing advisories, he said.

The provincial news release said that up-to-date flood information can be found at www.gov.mb.ca/flooding or by calling 1-866-626-4862 (toll-free). However, that number had an office-closed-on-weekends recorded message Sunday.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca