EMERSON, Man. – Stronger winds and rising water forced emergency workers to abandon the first Canadian settlement on the Red River to meet the flood.
Emerson, Man. is being evacuated of all but a small skeleton crew. Emptied of most of its population over a week ago, the town of 700 takes on an eerie silence as only 30 people remain.
Pounding waves will now fill this temporary, 2,000-square-kilometre inland sea.
All that could be done has been done. The dikes have been raised, the holes plugged and a forecast of winds of up to 80 kilometres an hour and rain of 15 millimetres has come at the worst possible time. The rising nearby Pembina River joins the crest of the now mighty Red in threatening the last metre of dike that protects the town.
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The 100 soldiers brought into the town will move north to join the fight with 6,500 other troops from across Canada converging on the flood zone.
Communities empty
Rural communities that dot the sides of the Red River have been emptied of all but essential personnel, displacing nearly 10,000 residents by the beginning of this week. Officials say 875 farms have already lost their battle with the river as sandbag and earthen dikes collapse. The high winds will only compound this problem.
“The real flood hasn’t even arrived yet. This is only melt water,” said Robert Bunkowsky, a Rosenort, Man. area farmer. “The real river flood won’t even crest for another several days.”
