OSLO, Minnesota – Heavy rain and snowfalls in the American Red River Valley and southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan last weekend are causing revisions to previous flood predictions.
“It isn’t that the levels are setting any records in southern Saskatchewan, but people get used to lower levels and they build or farm in areas that are prone to flooding occasionally,” said Jim Gerhard, of Sask Water in Weyburn, Sask.
“When the levels rise they come as a surprise.”
Brent Nelson, emergency services manager of Walsh County, North Dakota, said much of his area was under water or would be in the coming days and last weekend’s freezing rain and wet snow did not help. The Red River runs through Walsh county, between Grand Forks and Pembina, N.D.
Read Also
Agri-business and farms front and centre for Alberta’s Open Farm Days
Open Farm Days continues to enjoy success in its 14th year running, as Alberta farms and agri-businesses were showcased to increase awareness on how food gets to the dinner plate.
Some residents in that county were already commuting to their farms by boat and operating pumps in case their dikes are breached. Farm equipment lines high roads and fills dike-protected oases in this seasonal sea of muddy river water.
Portions of Interstate 29 and Manitoba’s Highway 75 parallel the Red River. These roads were closed to northbound traffic. Highway patrol officers said April 5 they do not expect the roads to open anytime soon as more than 7.5 centimetres of rain fell last weekend, pushing river crest dates from April 8 to April 15 in that region north of Grand Forks.
In the Rural Municipality of Montcalm, including St. Jean, Man., the administrator is expecting flooding of riverfront farms. The town of St. Jean has added a 60 centimetre splash guard above its dike. Levels on the Red should reach the top of the permanent dike but not breach it.
Manitoba’s water resources department said the additional rain and snow last weekend and the anticipated snowfall on April 6 will not cause any local flooding, but will add to levels on the Red, Souris and Assiniboine rivers.
The Souris River is the focus of much of the flood watch attention as Melita and other communities face levels above their flood stage. The peaks are predicted between April 15 and 30. Added precipitation from the past week’s spring storms will push Souris levels higher, said officials.
Wally Kachanoski, a municipal councillor and farmer at Souris, Man., has already seen flood waters in his district.
“Last week’s hot weather brought a wave of water that took out eight roads in couple of days. It came through awful fast and I hope it’s over for us for this year,” he said.
Alex Banga of Sask Water said residents of the Souris River Valley from Estevan to Roche Percee will continue to feel the effects of high water through this week and into next as Rafferty and Boundary dams release up to 50 cubic metres per second. At this flow rate, low lying farms have reported flooding of some farm buildings and roads, but no homes.
“Some residences have been affected through seepage and one had some sewage backup … . Some old oxbows have filled up so farmers will feel the effects of the high water,” said Banga.
The recent snowstorms have caused additional flows and may mean that flow rates from the dams will increase.
“They (in Manitoba and North Dakota) are at flood stage now and I expect there will be some challenges for those folks over the next couple of weeks,” said Banga.
