Southern Manitoba’s weather appears to have taken a turn for the warmer — finally — and the Province’s ice-chewing machines are on schedule despite some hiccups, says Selkirk’s mayor.
Mayor Larry Johannson says the North Red Waterway Corporation is out on the Red River and is on track, but they’re still worried about flooding in a few weeks.
“We’ve got the ice cutters in front of the amphibexes, they’ve been having a little bit of trouble,” said Johannson Saturday.
The ice breakers need to cut through more snow and ice than usual this season before the Amphibexes chew it up, he said, but they’re getting closer to Selkirk.
“We’ve passed the No. 4 bridge, so past the halfway point to Selkirk and we’re hoping to be done maybe Wednesday to Thursday.
Once that’s done, he said, they will move on to other areas if needed.
“I’m always worried about our neighbours, St. Clements and St. Andrews especially,” he said.
“In that Netley area, there’s a lot of beautiful homes and they’re very prone to flooding.”
Despite everything being on track so far, the situation is still a cause for concern, he said.
The combination of the ground freezing early, a possible quick melt and high piles of snow in North Dakota’s Red River Valley that will see much more snow over the next five days due to two Colorado Lows has everyone worried, said Johannson.
“Any kind of a snow or a rain situation, the ground isn’t going to take any of it, it’s all going to go into the runoff,” he said.
The province released its first flood forecast of the year last week and at that time, there were moderate flood concerns.
“Water levels will be below the flood-protection levels of community dikes and individual (homeowner) flood-protection works,” said Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler.
The biggest area of concern is the Red River. Other rivers such as the Assiniboine and Souris are also expected to run high, but not as high as the Red, and communities should not be threatened, said Schuler.
If the province has to open the floodway to protect Winnipeg due to floodwaters from down south heading into the valley before the ice is gone or the ground is more thawed, water levels will rise fast north of Winnipeg, said Johannson.
“It’s very important that that ice doesn’t jam up between here and the Marshall land area because once they open the flood way and the heavy water starts coming from the south, it could be disastrous for us if it comes too quick.
“We’re really keeping our eyes on whats happening down south.”
RELATED: Ice-breakers working on the Red River in 2017