With more rain in the forecast, the town of Minnedosa, Man., continues to fight against its unenviable flood situation.
The community declared a state of local emergency Tuesday, which will run through June 15, as town officials have begun handing out potential evacuation notices to those living in the most threatened areas. Four households were evacuated Tuesday.
Provincial crews will be removing part of the gate portion of the town’s dam Wednesday, in an effort to relieve pressure on the structure. However, Minnedosa CAO Jim Doppler says that could have other consequences.
“For each set of logs they pull, the projected rise is somewhere around three inches,” Doppler said.
“That’ll be sustained for a little while until it flattens out.
“How many homes are going to see increased water by that? For sure in the neighbourhood of around a dozen if our sandbagging efforts hold out.”
The town is looking to offset that increase with even more sandbagging Wednesday — or risk roughly a dozen more structures in the town of less than 3,000 people. Doppler said Minnedosa is looking for volunteers to help with the effort.
So-called “super sandbags” are also being employed.
“That’s a lot of heavy equipment,” Doppler said. “We do need volunteers to help reinforce some of our lower spots along the diking.
“Engineers will be assessing, to make sure we have about a two-foot clearance.”