CARMAN, Man. — As the overland flooding begins to recede in Carman, the town’s mayor says a second surge could be on the way.
Rising water forced the community in southwestern Manitoba to declare a state of emergency Sunday. The overflowing Boyne River damaged up to 40 homes in the town. Several schools are also closed Tuesday.
On Monday afternoon, the town’s mayor, Bob Mitchell said, although the water is going down, there may be another surge of overland flooding from the Boyne River on the way.
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“Our biggest concern is going to be four, five days down the road when we get the next surge of water coming from the west when the ice dams break there,” Mitchell said.
“We know there is another surge coming.”
Mitchell said this is the worst flooding he’s since since the 1970s.
“We’ve never seen this before,” he said. “We have a diversion system that controls the amount of water that comes into town, and it’s sized perfectly. But it doesn’t anticipate this kind of blockage.”
Two homes adjacent to the river had water fill basement crawl spaces that were several feet deep. One resident lost a furnace that was inside his crawl space.
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Town residents are being asked to conserve water because officials had to shut down the community’s treatment plant.
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Residents also built makeshift dykes and sandbagged properties to protect against the rising Boyne River.
“Our hope is the water drops enough in town now… so when the next surge come we will have enough capacity to take up without a significant problem,” Micthell said.
Other communities at risk
Multiple other Manitoba communities have declared states of emergency including the R.M. of Dufferin, the R.M. of La Broquerie, the R.M. of Grey, the R.M. of Two Borders, and the Town of Swan River.
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