REPLAY: More Manitobans evacuated in flood threat

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This article was published 20/04/2011 (5624 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Another 103 Manitobans have been evacuated from their homes due to flooding in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 866, the province reported this afternoon in its latest flood report.

About 60 Red River Valley residents are among the latest evacuees, as are an additional 12 in the RM of Cornwallis in the Brandon area.

The relocations have been caused mainly by the loss of road access. Some homes have been affected by seepage or floodwaters, and residents are moving to ensure they are not isolated by the flood.

The province also reported today that it has completed the evacuation of 42 residents at St. Adolphe Personal Care Home due to concerns about road access. They’ve been moved during the past two days to Grunthal.

Also along the Red River, the rail line along the dikes at Emerson and Morris will be closed today to protect those communities. The river is expected to crest at Emerson April 24 to 27.

So far, 32 communities have declared states of local emergency in Manitoba. That compares with 16 during the 2009 flood.

There are still 77 provincial roads affected by flood waters, with 55 closed or accessible to local traffic only. About 530 municipal roads are closed.

Steve Topping, Manitoba’s senior flood fighter, said the Souris River crested at Melita on Tuesday, and no further crest is predicted there. However, the province continues to built secondary dikes in the community to address what will be prolonged high river levels in the area. Precautionary sandbagging is also being done around the community’s sewage lift station.

The Qu’Appelle River at St-Lazare is expected to crest within the next 48 hours. The community is finalizing the shoring up of the community ring dike. The province said projected water levels for the Qu’Appelle and the Assiniboine rivers are still within the protection provided by the community ring dike and sandbag dikes.

Meanwhile, water levels in the Shellmouth Reservoir have increased by nearly three feet since Tuesday.

The province updated the flood situation at 2:30 p.m. We were there to live stream the update, and the replay is available below. Please scroll to 19:15 for the start of the remarks.