BREEZY POINT — On this blustery cold winter day, most Manitobans are not thinking about Spring. But the province’s flood fighters are.
“This ice this year is very, very thick,” said Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson, “and that’s what gets us, it’s the ice jams that get us.”
It’s why the 20 tonne Amphibex machines began slowly creeping their way along the Red River Tuesday, using only their weight to get on top of the ice to break it.
The three machines are following seven ice cutters that started last week cutting through roughly 32 inches of ice.
“A little early in my opinion,” said Dylan Vince, an avid ice fisher who was on the Red River Tuesday near Selkirk.
The machines are heading south towards Selkirk, right where Vince and his friend are ice fishing. The shacks just north of Selkirk will have to be off the river March 1st, in less than 2 weeks.
Vince questions if the million dollar project needs to be done every year.
“We haven’t had to harsh of a winter or a lot of snow,” said Vince, “is it worth doing it this year?”
After what residents North of Selkirk to Breezy Point experienced in 2009, when massive ice jams crashed through homes, wiping out the community of Breezy Point, officials aren’t taking any risks.
Experts say they’re concerned about the ice this year, it’s 8 to 10 inches thicker than last year.
“Every year it’s a different set of conditions but the risk is there,” said Premier Greg Selinger.
Signs that read, “Danger, keep out,” will be popping up along the Red River all the way to the Selkirk bridge as 30 people work around the clock for a month to break up the ice before melt.
“The flood potential is a little higher on the Assiniboine basis than it is on the Red River,” said Steve Topping with Manitoba Water Stewardship.
We’ll learn the real threat next week when a flood forecast is released.
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