Lake drains a complex project, says Ashton

A provincial cabinet minister questioned whether Opposition Leader Brian Pallister knows what it takes to build a major infrastructure project after the Tory boss repeated assertions two large lake drains could be built in three years.

Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Steve Ashton maintained Tuesday the province is moving full speed ahead with a new permanent outlet for Lake Manitoba and making an emergency outlet for Lake St. Martin permanent. The estimated price tag for the combined project is $300 million.

Pallister and Conservative MLA Shannon Martin accused the government Tuesday of failing to make the outlets a sufficient priority and using the federal environmental approval process as an excuse for not moving more quickly. The province has estimated the outlets will be completed by 2020.

"We believe that this project can be completed in three years, not seven, three," Pallister told reporters Tuesday. "This project cannot be allowed to sit for seven years while we give in to red tape."

New weather stations in works

Following a second major Assiniboine River flood in just over three years, the province has announced it will purchase dozens of new automated weather stations to boost its flood-predicting capabilities.

The new weather stations were recommended more than a year ago by a panel reviewing the government's response to the 2011 flood. They're expected to cost more than $1 million in total, and a government official said Monday they're just being tendered now.

That's got the Opposition Progressive Conservatives wondering what's taken the Selinger government so long.

"This is not a complicated purchase," said Shannon Martin, the party's conservation and water stewardship critic.

Deal for a new Lake St. Martin

Lake St. Martin First Nation may finally have a deal to get members home again.

Chief Adrian Sinclair confirmed he and the council of his First Nation signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Monday with the federal and provincial governments for a settlement package.

The deal is worth hundreds of millions of dollars in land and infrastructure, in a proposal to be cost-shared 50/50 between the federal and provincial governments, he said.

"It's a whole new community, a brand-new community, and it would put Lake St. Martin on the map," Sinclair said.

Waves erode shore, merchants’ hopes

WINNIPEG BEACH -- "It's like an ocean right now, only I'm not in Hawaii."

Judy Werier took a stroll down the boardwalk at Winnipeg Beach, looking at the huge waves on Lake Winnipeg Monday morning. Besides the thunderous roar of the waves on Manitoba's largest lake, there was a lot of water where her beloved childhood beach used to be.

"I've been coming here my whole life and I've never seen the water splash over onto the boardwalk like this," the Winnipeg Beach resident said as the strong north wind kicked up cool mist in her face. "We have a cottage on the lake and we are starting to get a little worried, as well. The water and wind are really damaging the shoreline.

"The roar (of the waves) is so loud. This is an ocean -- this is not a lake."

Delta Beach residents stare down winds amid high water

Winds wreaked havoc over the weekend through parts of the province, but residents along the shore of Lake Manitoba remained stoic.

They were worried about the wind, but no more than usual. It's something they've seen before and will see again, said Kam Blight, reeve of the RM of Portage la Prairie, which includes Delta Beach.

Blight said he was out on the lake at Delta Sunday evening and everything was holding steady.

"Everything seemed to be OK. There's definitely higher winds and waves, but so far everything is fine out at Delta (Beach)," Blight said.

Better than a bird’s-eye view of the flood

The full extent of the river’s wrath is hard to grasp from a dike, a sandbagging line or the altitude of a helicopter.

But in this close-up, eye-in-the-sky video from a camera-carrying drone, the flood comes into focus in a way we’ve never before seen.

This drone’s-eye view of jetskis blasting across what should be fields of canola, farmsteads becoming islands and the murky churn of the Assiniboine River as it swallows all that’s in reach provides a new and startling perspective of Manitoba’s surprise summer flood.

 Three things a drone reveals about the flood:

Dikes hold during Assiniboine River crest

The worst of this summer’s flooding is passing down the Assiniboine River with a cautious optimism settling in — for now.

At a noon briefing, provincial officials said the crest on the Assiniboine River at the Portage Reservoir crested at midnight last night at 52,100 cubic feet per second (cfs).

Flows on the Portage Diversion are about 34,100 cfs and the flow on the Assiniboine River downstream of the diversion is 18,000 cfs. Flows on the Assiniboine River between Portage la Prairie and Headingley are expected to stay at about 18,000 cfs for several days with a new forecast for a second crest at the Portage Reservoir calling for a peak flow between 46,000 and 47,500 cfs July 14 to 16.

Only one section of dike west of St. Francois Xavier showed signs overnight of minor seepage, which was picked up by a Canadian Forces Aurora surveillance aircraft. Work to shore up the dike started this morning.

St. Francois Xavier prepares for river flooding

(First photo) Volunteers, including a busload of provincial government employees, Manitoba Conservation forest firefighters from northern and eastern Manitoba, Manitoba Hydro staff, and members of the Second Battalion of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and 17 Wing Winnipeg, work together to sandbag in St. Francois Xavier on July 8. They moved eastward to build and reinforce dikes at the riverside homes on the south side of Highway 26.(Second photo) Members of CFB Shilo joined local volunteers in directing sandbagging efforts at the Emergency Operations Centre set up in the  St. Francois Xavier municipal office.

Flood fears easing in southern Manitoba

WINNIPEG - Flood fears were easing in much of southern Manitoba Thursday, as the Assiniboine River started to subside near Portage la Prairie.

"We have hit crest, the waters are declining. The good news really is the degree to which the preparation certainly is paying off," the province's Emergency Measures Minister Steve Ashton said six days after the province declared a state of emergency and called in the military.

Since last Friday, hundreds of thousands of sandbags have been placed around homes. Dikes and riverbanks were reinforced and monitored with high-tech surveillance equipment. Across the province, more than 700 people were forced out of their homes — the vast majority as a precaution due to the possibility their local roads might be washed out.

As the river crested near Portage overnight, both the Assiniboine River and the Portage diversion, a channel that diverts excess water from the river to Lake Manitoba, were near capacity. A small leak in a bank on the Assiniboine was detected and fixed, but other than that, the defences held. Evacuation orders in Delta Beach north of Portage la Prairie were lifted Thursday morning.

Living in isolation

SHOAL LAKE 40 FIRST NATION — The first time Linda Redsky fell through the ice, she was heading back to her island reserve after a day in Kenora.

“I remember being under the water because it was a really clear night, and I could see the ice floating around above me, and I could see the stars,” she said. “I kept grabbing at the ice but it just kept breaking.”

Redsky’s husband, who’d gone to town with her, lay down across the ice, shimmied out to the hole and hauled her out. Then the two crawled the rest of the way to the shores of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation.

“By the time we got there, our hair was just frozen, our clothes were just frozen,” said Redsky.

Final push before flood crest

RM OF ST. FRANÇOIS XAVIER -- The first thing Patrizia Moxon thought when she got home from work Tuesday night was: Oh my god, we're doing this again.

By early Wednesday afternoon there were nearly 100 Province of Manitoba workers, Canadian Forces personnel and other volunteers filling sandbags and using them to build a dike around her house.

Trucks from B-Sharp Excavating and other contractors delivered sand and supplied a skid steer loader. The RM of St. François Xavier contributed supplies and volunteers.

"I feel awesome, happy that they're helping me out. They're awesome and big kudos to them... all the volunteers, it's been incredible to see how fast they get things done," Moxon said.

Flooding fears begin to fall

Though the official announcements said the worst of the flooding in Manitoba was over, people on the ground remained wary late Wednesday.

Jodie Gale, who has helped co-ordinate volunteers protecting homes in the RM of St. François Xavier, said she's expecting the water near her to rise into the night and crest this morning.

Gale said the last few days -- and nights -- have been hectic as volunteers sandbagged houses and tried to protect everybody who was threatened by the rising waters.

"My days and nights are getting all rattled together. It's been a few (sleepless nights)," Gale said.

Mulcair miffed Tories nix flood tour

Federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair has accused the Harper government of playing petty politics with the Manitoba flood and ignoring the underlying causes of such weather-related events.

The Opposition leader criticized Defence Minister Rob Nicholson Wednesday, for preventing him from getting a close-up view of the flood fight near Portage la Prairie.

A spokeswoman for Nicholson told The Canadian Press the government cancelled tours for the time being so troops could focus their efforts on keeping Manitobans safe. The Assiniboine River was expected to crest near Portage Wednesday evening.

At a news conference at The Forks, Mulcair rejected the government's explanation, noting Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Brandon Sunday while the river was cresting there.

RCMP advise against visiting Portage Diversion

RCMP are asking the public to stay away from the Portage Diversion.

In a release, RCMP said they have been encountering people, particularly on the Trans-Canada Highway west of Portage la Prairie, who have been stopping their vehicles to take photos of the diversion. Those people are creating hazards for traffic and emergency crews working in the area, the release stated.

The public has also been cautioned not to exit their vehicles in the area, and to slow down while driving, as reduced speed limits have been posted.

The Portage Diversion has been operating at nearly full capacity over the last few days, channeling water out of the Assiniboine River and into Lake Manitoba in an attempt to lessen the impact of flooding in the area.