The flood watch may soon be over for residents in southern Manitoba.
The Province of Manitoba released its latest flood report Friday, saying the Red River crested in Emerson, Man. Wednesday, and is expected to hit its peak in Winnipeg Monday or Tuesday.
High water levels around this time of year are something that Emerson residents have become used to.
“It’s not really a major concern, I’ve been here for almost 13 years and seen it before, been there, done that,” says the owner of Emerson’s General Store, Carl Bueckert.
“Some fields are flooded and there’s some properties that lack access because of the high waters.”
While partial ring dike closures are in place at Emerson and at St. Jean Baptiste, both communities remain accessible by road.
“The thaw has been just fantastic, a lot of the snow here went away went away before the water came from the states, so we’ve been very very lucky,” explained the Reeve for Emerson-Franklin, Dave Carlson.
Highway 75 North at Morris is expected to remain open but staff will be on standby in case any action is required, the province said.
“Right now the flood has been downgraded enough that it’s only really a high water event. We have closed some ring dikes around some homes and stuff, but not as many and we anticipated,” Carlson continued.
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While there is rain in the forecast over the weekend, it is not expected to have any impact on flooding.
Global News weather specialist Mike Koncan said most of the anticipated precipitation will land south of the U.S. border.
“The forecast will generally be staying cool for the next while, bottoming out on Monday with a high on that day expected to be around 5C. Leading up to that, Sunday night is the next chance for Winnipeg to see some rain or snow as a system moves past us south of the border but southern Manitoba could pick up a little snow before turning to rain.
“At the high end, models on Friday predict up to 10 mm. Others have closer to 1 mm.”
In March, the flood forecast suggested the Red River would likely match 2011 flood levels, reaching as high as 22.5 feet at James Avenue in Winnipeg.
The latest report from the province pegs the crest in the city to be in the range of 18.1-18.3 ft. The water level reading Friday was 17.4 ft.
-With files from Sam Thompson