West St. Paul readies for flood waters with dikes, new employees

Work has begun on a two-kilometre-long earth dike in the rural municipality of West St. Paul, just north of Winnipeg.

When it’s finished, the dike will measure from two-feet to six-feet in height, and will protect 23 homes from the rising Red River this spring.

West St. Paul is expecting water levels similar to the Flood of the Century in1997.

Sandbags will be available to residents starting this Saturday. Officials expect residents will be lining up to get them.

The community is also in the process of hiring five staff to help with monitoring dikes and fill sandbags.

West St. James CAO Brent Olynyk says year after year, it has become more difficult to get volunteers, and with an anticipated federal election on the way, that will be even harder.

In the meantime, the province’s flood forecast scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed due to a heavy snowfall in North Dakota. Overnight, roughly 22.9 centimetres of snow fell and officials need to recalculate the impact this may have on water levels. The Fargo flood forecast that was supposed to come out Thursday has also been pushed to Friday or Saturday.

Back in Manitoba, officials have closed the ramp from Highway 1 eastbound into Portage La Prairie because crews are using heavy machinery to stabilize the banks of the Postage Division, using large crushed rock.