Rain forecast stokes fears for flooded western Manitoba region

Swan vale dealing with extended flooding

oversupply waters rush over fields, roads near Minitonas

Bill Gade, reeve for Swan Valley West, which includes the town of Swan River, said a section of Highway 10 between Swan River and Minitonas collapsed late Monday afternoon, hauling down power lines and making it even harder to get in and out of the area.

"There's a 40-foot hole where there used to be a highway," he said.

Gade said some homes along the Roaring River — a tributary of the Swan River — that have never flooded are filled now. The situation is similar along the edge of the Swan River townsite.

Rain that fell over the Manitoba Escarpment in Duck Mountain flowed down into the valley rivers, which were already swelling, but that has started to recede in some places, he said.

Lisa Boyko, who lives in Minitonas with her husband and their eight-year-old child, says everything in her basement is ruined by flooding.

She woke up around 2 a.m. Monday to some water in the basement. Within two hours, it was well over a metre deep.

"Everything is flipped over and it's floating. [Even] our washing machine went upside down. It's a mess," she said.

Her completely flooded yard was "a lake," said Boyko, but much of the overland flooding had subsided by noon Tuesday.

The couple borrowed a generator to get their sump pump going. It took all day to clear the basement.

Her big concern now is getting the cupboards restocked. She buys most of her goods from Swan River, about 15 kilometres away, but a large section of the highway connecting the towns collapsed late Monday afternoon.

Up to 150 people are out of their homes after flash flooding in the municipality of Swan Valley West, as communities in Manitoba's Parkland region continue to deal with the aftermath of heavy rains Sunday.

The neighbouring Municipality of Minitonas-Bowsman declared a state of local emergency on Monday, and several highways remain closed in the region. On Tuesday, the Town of Swan River, about 15 kilometres west of Minitonas, also declared a local state of emergency.

Meanwhile, a voluntary evacuation advisory has been issued for properties along Shell River in the municipality of Roblin, with residents in low-lying advised to consider evacuating, the municipality posted on its Facebook page Tuesday morning.

Residents are "encouraged to monitor conditions closely and make preparations as necessary," the post said.

Environment Canada's Kokolsky said even after Tuesday's storms pass through, the wet weather isn't over.

"[It] looks like there is potentially a wraparound with this system, and some more showery weather and potentially some more thundershowers," he said, adding that while weather models give an idea of the track of the storms, they can't say exactly where they will hit.

The amount of precipitation is dependent on how slowly the storms move.

"Hopefully the worst of it misses them," Kokolsky said. "But there's a lot of moisture in the air today. These storms are going to be really loaded with precipitation."

We're continuing to cover severe flooding in western Manitoba today, where people were stranded on rooftops yesterday and roads have been washed away.

Environment and Climate Change Canada says the community of Minitonas, about 375 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, received the largest amount of rainfall in the region, with about 148 millimetres of rain in only a few hours Sunday night into early Monday morning, while Swan Valley got about 72 millimetres. 

But meteorologist Keane Kokolsky says it's not over yet, with another severe weather threat on the horizon for today — and "the possibility of flash flooding once again, with potentially upwards of 100 millimetres or more of rain coming."

While the exact track of the storms is still unclear, "all of southern Manitoba and southeast Saskatchewan is under a substantial severe weather threat today," Kokolsky said.

"We've upgraded to an extreme risk, the highest on the scale," he said, with tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds upwards of 100km/h and very heavy rain possible.

Premier Kinew said the bulk of the flooding Tuesday is in and around Tamarack Creek, just northeast of Swan River, with Transportation and Infrastructure crews on site assessing how to pump water out quickly. 

Many communities are dealing with power outages, with Manitoba Hydro posting on social media that damage to its equipment is "severe," and some areas are "impossible or unsafe to access."

The province is also monitoring what could become a supply issue for those stuck in flooded areas, Kinew said.

"There’s food on the shelves now, but again, how long are people going to be able to rely on those supplies?" he said.

"That is one of the issues, is making sure that folks in Minitonas are going to be safe, but also fed and have the lights back on."

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says "whatever resources are needed will be deployed" as western Manitoba grapples with flash flooding that has led to local states of emergency after heavy rains Sunday.

During a Manitoba Chambers of Commerce event in Winnipeg Tuesday morning, Kinew said Prairie Mountain Health, the western Manitoba regional health authority, is trying to "troubleshoot" staffing issues, given the challenges travelling to and from the regional hospital in Swan River, about 375 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

The premier also said members from the province’s Emergency Management Organization are in the Swan Valley region, and a centrally located command centre for emergency operations has been established. 

The Office of the Fire Commissioner is also helping with emergency water rescue, Kinew said.

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