Communities across southwestern Manitoba are hoping the skies stay clear as they work to drain roads and homes of flood water.
Dauphin is the latest Manitoba community to deal with flooding. The Vermillion River in Dauphin crested at around 11 p.m. Wednesday night.
Some roads and basements are flooded and people have been sandbagging, CJOB reports.
Highway 362, five kilometres north of Dauphin, is closed because there’s water over the road, the province said.
The Vermillion Park campground was closed at 3 p.m. Wednesday and campers were relocated to the Vermillion Park Sportsplex parking lot.
Some of those campers are in Dauphin for the annual Countryfest music festival, which is going ahead from today until Sunday as planned.
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The Countryfest grounds south of the city escaped damage, organizers said. The shuttle that usually runs from the Vermillion Park campground is running from the sportsplex instead.
Meanwhile, in the community of Reston, which has been under a state of emergency since Saturday, the water is starting to recede.
“The forecast looks really good,” Reeve Ross Tycoles said.
The town received about a foot of rain in the last week and Tycoles said five or six houses are “full losses,” including one house that appears to have shifted on its foundation.
“The tracks actually let loose a bit at the top,” he said, referring to the railway through town that in the past has worked as a dike.
The Reston Health Centre, including the personal care home, was evacuated, with the 28 patients going to other facilities in the region.
There is no longer water over Highway 2 but it remains closed, officials said.
The community still needs skilled volunteers who can help with pumping, Tycoles said. Anyone wishing to volunteer should call the RM at 204-877-3327.
“The community and the people have appreciated the support we’ve got,” he said. “We’re running out of energy.”
Heavy rainfalls over the past week caused flooding in many parts of southwestern Manitoba. States of emergency were declared in the RMs of Pipestone, Wallace, Albert, Edward and Kelsey and in Opaskwayak First Nation and The Pas. The last three communities are preparing for flood waters coming from Alberta’s catastrophic flooding. Brandon also had localized flooding.
Multiple highways and roads are closed in southwestern Manitoba due to flooding.
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