Manitoba farmers are hunkering down for what they hope is only localized spring flooding, but some fear it could grow into the mother of all spring floods.
Manitoba Natural Resources forecasts a high flood potential along many Manitoba waterways, especially the Red River.
This is unhappy news for Lorne Hamblin, a St. Jean Baptiste farmer who spent much of last spring boating above his flooded Red River Valley land.
“History says it never floods two years in a row, but there’s always a first time,” he said. “We’ll have to sandbag my parents’ house again.”
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Natural resources reports heavy snowcover in Manitoba, especially along the headwaters of the river. That creates a high potential for flooding along the Red River if there is a quick thaw or heavy spring rains.
If a quick melt occurs, the department expects the heaviest flooding in a century.
Flooding is expected along the Assiniboine River from St. Lazare to Brandon if a normal melt occurs. Regular water flow is expected from Shellmouth to Millwood with normal weather because the dam reservoir is being drawn down to create water storage space. With a quick melt, there would be flooding in the valley from the dam to Portage La Prairie, but flood levels would be lower than last year.
Water levels should be lower than last year along the Souris River, but natural resources expects extensive flooding of the valley from the American border to Hartney.
Spring flood potential is high along the Winnipeg River, which has had heavy flows all winter.
Rat River, Seine River and Cook’s Creek could have worse flooding than last year with normal melt conditions. Bad conditions could create a flood similar to those of 1974 and 1979.
Normal weather in southeastern Manitoba will cause worse flooding than usual along the Brokenhead and Whitemouth rivers.
The southern Interlake should be relatively free of floods providing weather is normal.
