anitoba continues to reckon with spring flooding, as communities across the province battle the high waters of the Red River and its tributaries.
Scott Kehler, chief scientist at Weatherlogics, told 680 CJOB’s The Start now that the Red River has spread out across a much larger surface area, it’s behaving more like a lake.
“The water is heating up more slowly than the land around it,” he said.
“What that’s doing is creating a circulation where the wind is actually flowing from the water toward the land.”
Kehler said winds will continue to shift westward throughout the day Wednesday, thanks to the Red’s influence.
“If you’re on the eastern side of the ‘Red Sea,’ as we call it now, you may actually see the wind shift from whatever it was in the morning to a westerly direction as that lake breeze influence — or Red Sea influence — reaches you.”
Although there’s more rain in the forecast later this weekend, Kehler said it shouldn’t be anywhere near as significant as recent storms in the province — and his models show most of the heavy precipitation will be hitting Saskatchewan, which is good news for people to the west.
“While we’ve been really wet this spring, they certainly need the rain.”
Among the many other communities affected by floodwaters, the town of Arborg — 100 km north of Winnipeg, in the Interlake region — has a major intersection underwater and some flooded homes in the surrounding Rural Municipality of Bifrost.
Arborg Mayor Peter Dueck told 680 CJOB says the Icelandic River — normally a small stream — rose quickly this year.
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“People are saying this is probably the highest the water has ever been since 1974,” he said.
“It certainly was quite surprising how quickly it came up. People who didn’t have their vehicles on the right side of the ditch, the right side of their driveways, had to ferry to their cars.
“It’s been surprising how a little, sleepy … almost a creek in normal years has become the mighty Icelandic.”
Dueck said with the help of some pumps the town has been running, water on the south side of the highway into Arborg has gone down several inches overnight.
More than 1,400 residents of Peguis First Nation remain away from the community after it was evacuated earlier this week — with many staying in Winnipeg hotels until it’s safe to return.
The current situation is all about waiting and wondering what’s next, said Sheri Daniels, a Peguis woman who had to flee the community.
Daniels told 680 CJOB that while she doesn’t fault the people of her community, she’s frustrated preparations weren’t made sooner to keep some of the houses safe.
“I’m going through a range of emotions, to be honest with you,” she said.
“I think I’m still at the anger part. I think it’s too little, too late. We knew it was going to happen — (I’m feeling) frustration in seeing the efforts weren’t happening sooner.
“Maybe sooner our house could’ve been saved — or not near to the extent our house flooded.”
Daniels said she’s trying to maintain a sense of normality and routine with her daughter, who has been unable to keep in touch with friends throughout the ordeal, as Peguis evacuees are waiting out the flood in a number of locations.
“I try to keep that hope that, reassuring her — and myself — that we are going to go home.
“We don’t know what it’s going to look like and we don’t know when … we don’t even know what to expect when we get there.
“It’s a separation and displacement that we’re experiencing. We left my dad back at home and it’s hard to be away.”
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