It’s going to be harder to get around in Manitoba‘s Red River Valley for the next few weeks.
Communities like Morris and St. Adolphe are using the warm spring weather this week to shore up ring dikes and prepare to close roads, with more rain on the way to Manitoba this weekend — and a crest of the Red River about a week away, too.
The reeve of the rural municipality of Morris says the community is preparing for Highway 75 to be closed as early as Friday.
The Valley received up to 70 millimetres of rain last weekend as a Colorado low parked over the province for 48 hours.
Now, forecasters expect a similar, but smaller, system to bring anywhere from 15-30 mm more water to the same region.
“The good news is, it looks to be less severe than the last two (storms),” Weatherlogics President and Chief Scientist, Scott Kehler, told 680 CJOB. “While any more rain isn’t good news, we shouldn’t see quite as much as we did last weekend.”
The issue, according to Kehler, has to do with the timing.
North Dakota is expecting to get more rain than Manitoba with this incoming storm — up to 40 mm in some areas.
“That’s definitely not good news as the river is cresting.”
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum declared a state-wide flooding emergency earlier this week, as the river has gone beyond the banks in communities like Grand Forks.
Even without the rain, an incoming crest of the Red north of the border, earmarked for Mother’s Day weekend, is enough to set flood preparations in motion for communities like Morris.
“The expectation is that the water will make its way onto the surface of (the bridge on Highway 75), and that would cause it to close,” Reeve Ralph Groening says.
He believes that could happen as soon as Friday, April 29.
A provincial flood report issued Wednesday said crews are monitoring river levels in Morris and will work to keep Hwy 75 open as long as possible on the north side of the community.
“Fill material has been stockpiled at the site and crews are on standby to initiate the dike closure if required,” the report says.
The province anticipates current levels to be similar to that of the 2011 flood, when the highway was closed for nearly a month.
Groening says traffic disruptions for big rigs won’t be as poignant as they were 11 years ago, as a flood detour built by the province will be in effect.
“It’s a bit of an inconvenience, but it’s a great road. Truckers should have no difficulty.”
He’s more concerned about additional moisture ending up on saturated fields, and compounding existing road closures.
“We have nine roads closed right now… these are rural, gravel roads that are municipal responsibility. They are impassible.”
Some 43 kms north, up Highway 75 in St. Adolphe, Rural Municipality of Ritchot Mayor Chris Ewen says his community is taking similar precautions.
The town has already closed its ring dike in anticipation of more water, declaring a local state of emergency.
“I’ve been doing the mayor thing for five years, and this is now my third state of emergency … this is pretty common in Ritchot,” Ewen explains.
“We’re blessed to have residents that pay attention, and know what’s going on — but we also have residents who are new to the community. They just want to know how they can help, and how we can help them.”
Ewen says some roads in his constituency are below drainage level, and will get covered with water in relatively dry years, too.
But Ewen says his constituents will take the changes in stride, along with their sense of pride.
“That’s because we’re so close to the (Red River floodway) gates. Those are being raised to protect the City of Winnipeg. I like to call us the ‘gatekeepers of the Red.’ We do whatever we need to do for the majority.”