Widespread flooding forces evacuations

WINNIPEG — Evacuations are underway at the Dauphin Regional Health Centre and in parts of Swan River as widespread flooding continues to impact Manitoba’s Parkland region and parts of the Interlake, leaving dozens of communities under states of local emergency and washing out roads across the area.

The province says 30 states of local emergency have been declared in relation to the flooding, while more than 50 provincial roads — along with numerous municipal roads — remain damaged, flooded or washed out as the region deals with the aftermath of heavy and unprecedented amounts of rainfall.

“As many Manitobans are celebrating our national holiday today, there are many of our fellow Manitobans, our friends, neighbours and family members, who are dealing with terrible, terrible flooding impacts,” Premier Wab Kinew said in a Wednesday news conference.

In Swan River, about 150 homes are being evacuated after flooding cut off road access in parts of the community. Residents are being relocated to safer areas within the town, with helicopters being used to assist with the evacuations.

A power outage at the Dauphin Regional Health Centre prompted the evacuation of patients, with individuals being transferred to Brandon and other health-care facilities while a temporary urgent care centre is being set up at the Dauphin Medical Clinic.

Other communities experiencing significant flooding, transportation disruptions, power outages and infrastructure damage include Swan Valley West, Minitonas-Bowsman, Ethelbert, the Mountain area and surrounding municipalities, according to Christine Stevens, assistant deputy minister with the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization.

“Though rainfall has stopped in many of those locations, rivers do remain elevated, runoff is still moving through watersheds and road infrastructure is failing,” Stevens said.

She said damaged highways and municipal roads are slowing emergency response efforts, making it more difficult to move resources into affected communities, restore power and support municipal response efforts.

Some areas received more than 200 millimetres of rain, according to Fisaha Unduche, executive director of Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management with the Manitoba government.

While no major precipitation is expected over the next seven days, Unduche said rivers remain elevated and runoff continues to move through watersheds. He added water levels along the Assiniboine River are expected to begin declining around mid-July.

Kinew urged Manitobans in the Parkland region to stay off highways and municipal roads, saying crews continue to see road failures and damage to critical infrastructure.

Travel is not advised from Russell north to Mafeking and from Dauphin Lake west to the Saskatchewan border, Kinew said.

“If you are healthy, if you have supplies, please stay home. If you are in a medical emergency, please contact 911 or your local emergency service,” he said.

Kinew said the province has co-ordinated a medical response led by the Office of the Fire Commissioner, the Medical Transportation Co-ordination Centre and other emergency services to ensure residents can access care.

“We will come get you by helicopter, by boat, by whichever means of conveyance is necessary,” Kinew said. “But we are asking you kindly to stay off the roads because we do not want to see any situation made worse by having people get stuck in areas which may not have cell coverage.”

The premier also announced $5 million in Disaster Financial Assistance cash-flow funding for municipalities to help them respond to the flooding.

“Cash flow today to ensure that the impacts of these unprecedented flooding situations that we’re seeing are not going to be borne by the local municipalities alone,” Kinew said. “We’re going to respond to the situation the way that Manitobans respond to any challenge, which is working on it together.”

The province is also airlifting approximately 100,000 sandbags into Swan River and working to transport high-volume pumps into the community. Despite the flooding, the Swan River hospital remains operational.

Stevens said officials are also working to assist people stranded at Duck Mountain Provincial Park after access roads became impassable. Manitoba Hydro is responding to a downed power line before campers can be safely escorted out, while conservation officers are ensuring those in the park have the supplies they need until they can leave safely.

The RM of Dauphin declared a state of local emergency Wednesday morning after receiving approximately 115 millimetres of rain since June 28.

“At 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon, the rivers were extremely high and the ditches were full,” Dauphin resident Mark Symchych said. “Highway 5 had water going across the road for about a quarter of a mile.”

“I’ve never seen the Wilson River rolling that high as it was last night.”

Symchych said that while driving around 10:30 p.m., he saw a bulldozer sitting on the edge of a farmer’s field, completely surrounded by water.

“When I came home, the streets were just full of water,” he said, adding that Main Street was nearly impassable unless you had a very high vehicle.

He said his own property has not been affected by the flooding.

An overland flood warning remains in effect for parts of western Manitoba. The province is also warning that water levels on several reservoirs and lakes, including Shellmouth Reservoir (Lake of the Prairies), Rivers Dam (Lake Wahtopanah), Minnedosa Dam and Dauphin Lake, could rise by one to three feet over the coming days.

» Winnipeg Free Press