Flash flooded Manitoba town declares state of emergency as more rain looms

Multiple Manitoba communities are working to recover services following severe storms this weekend. CTV's Harrison Shin has more.

A western Manitoba town hit hard by overland flooding earlier this week has declared a state of emergency, with the threat of more rain still on the horizon.

Swan River Mayor Lance Jacobson told CTV News flooding began Monday night after the nearby Roaring River spilled its banks in the aftermath of a vicious rainstorm.

Rushing waters quickly flooded areas south of the town, he said, which then travelled to smaller creeks that also spilled over, unable to take the deluge.

“We started seeing some overland flooding in our industrial park and then started sandbagging in that area,” he said.

“Then about two hours later, roughly, we started seeing a little bit more overland flooding to the southeast corner.”

Sandbagging started in those areas late last night to protect businesses and homes.

Then around midnight, the west side of town started flooding, as well.

Dozens of homes and several businesses are impacted, he said. Town staff and volunteers have been sandbagging through the night and continued into the morning.

Jacobson said the town declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, as the threat of more rain looms on the horizon.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) warns a ‘significant severe weather outbreak’ is expected to descend on much of southern Manitoba on Tuesday afternoon, bringing a chance of large hail, tornadoes, widespread damaging winds in excess of 100 km/h and very heavy rainfall that could lead to more flash flooding.

Jacobson said he spoke with Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew Tuesday morning about what’s needed to combat the waters and what’s to come.

“If we get this rain that’s potentially going to happen today, then we were requesting if the province or (Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure) would break a piece of highway that would allow some of this water to move quickly,” he said.

Outages, flooding continue in Minitonas

Nearby Minitonas similarly took on six inches of rain in a few short hours on Monday, which continues to upend the town.

It’s also under a state of emergency, as hydro, water and communication outages stretch on. Crews needed to make repairs are having difficulty accessing the community, with road access to much of the town cut off due to the wide-reaching flooding.

“We are working with Manitoba Hydro, the province, our own Public Works and Fire departments to restore services as quickly as possible,” the municipality wrote in a Facebook post.

Manitoba Hydro brought in additional crews from other parts of the province to help bring folks back online. Flooded out roads and highways meant workers had to be flown in to access damaged poles.

“Good progress today, but damage to our infrastructure is severe and some areas like Minitonas are impossible or unsafe to access,” the Crown corporation wrote on its X page Monday night.