Hesco Barriers may have originally been used to protect troops in Afghanistan, but this year, these bunkers have been repurposed, and now, they’re being used in the fight against floods in Manitoba.
“In three hours, we’ve accomplished a little more than halfway, so this is a very effective and a cost effective way to give them a way to protect themselves from the water,” said Darcy Hardman, Emergency Measures Coordinator.
The Province of Manitoba bought 43 kilometers of these barriers for $4.5 million for use primarily in the St. Adolphe and St. Agathe areas. The City also ordered nine kilometres of the Hesco Barriers at a price of $1 million to create primary dike raises along Scotia Street, Glenwood Crescent and Kildonan Drive.
But during a Disaster Management Conference held in Winnipeg last month, Fargo’s Emergency Manager, Dave Rogness, expressed concerns over using the devices in the spring floods, saying that the Hesco Barriers didn’t work for Fargo in 2009.
“They’re not designed for flood fighting, they’re designed for war use, sandbag bunkers,” Rogness said.
“They’re not the best, they were the best thing we had at the time above sandbags, but the problem is they don’t hold a lot of water for a long period of time, you can’t stack them.”
But one resident of River Road is hoping that the barriers do the trick.
“Our house had three inches of water over the main flood,” recalled River Road resident, Kevin Lusk.
In 2009, the river spilled its banks along River Road in St. Andrews, flooding several area properties. This year, Lusk is out helping to get the barriers set up, because he’s hoping that this 1,000-foot-long, foot-foot-high barrier will also protect his home.
“The concern is that the water is going to come up over the road,” Lusk said.
Even the US makers of the barriers are here in Manitoba, overseeing the installation of the new product.
“I got a one way ticket here, so I’m here until I’m told otherwise,” said Chris Harrington of Hesco Barriers.
Overland flooding has already begun in Manitoba; from an aerial view, it’s clear that many fields in the Interlake are underwater. And while the Red River near Selkirk is still covered in ice, it has begun to spill its banks and several homes are in the path of the rising water.
While residents appreciate the hard work of all the volunteers who come out to help sandbag, many River Road homeowners would rather have a more permanent solution. After the 2009 flood, they asked the Province to build a permanent dike along the riverbank, but that hasn’t happened.
“The cost of the sand alone that is going to go into these bags is $12,000 and these bags could be used in other areas that are more needy if this bank were in fact raised,” Lusk pointed out.
“The (rural municipality) doesn’t want to take on the Province, the Province has other places to go and people to see, and there’s not a lot of votes along here.”
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