Flooding forces evacuations in some areas of Manitoba
So far about 900 people have had to leave 200 homes
Albert Stevenson was among members of the Peguis First Nation who stayed behind Monday after others fled to escape flooding. “Right now, we’re just checking sump pumps … and pump the water out of the yards if we can,” he said by phone from the community about 150 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
A combination of heavy rain on the weekend and ice jams on the Fisher River raised water levels, which prompted the evacuation of some 200 homes close to the river that house more than 900 people.
Stevenson’s parents were among those sent to Winnipeg, but he chose to stay behind with his wife and daughter to try to protect their homes. His house is on higher ground and had not been affected.
“Waters have gone down a bit, but we’re not out of the woods yet.”
The provincial government said later Monday that the river had peaked, although ice jams remained a risk.
The community’s chief, Glen Hudson, said hundreds of homes were surrounded by water and roads were getting submerged.
“We have been seeing waters at unprecedented levels as far as the Fisher River watershed is concerned,” said Hudson, who added that water appeared to be higher than during the community’s last major flood evacuation in 2011.
The chief and council of the neighbouring community of Fisher River Cree Nation said some high-risk residents were sent to other areas as the waters rose.
Russell Murdock, whose home is about eight metres from the river, said the Fisher River emergency response team set up a Tiger Dam — stacked, long tubes containing water — around his home two days ago. “It’s just not doing a job right now. It’s been fruitless, but the guys did what they could,” said Murdock. “So far, we’ve managed to keep the water to a certain level underneath the crawl space. Other than that, we’re coping.”
While Manitoba often faces some threat of flooding in the spring, this year has been far worse than normal. Heavy snowfall over the winter, combined with three spring storms in as many weeks, has resulted in saturated land and rising rivers.
Much of southern Manitoba received four to six times the normal amount of precipitation in April, the provincial government said.
Peguis First Nation has dealt with several floods in recent decades. The community was relocated in 1907 — from good farming land close to Winnipeg to its current location on a flood-prone river delta — under a surrender of land to the federal government that was later deemed illegal.