Some Virden residents told to evacuate due to high water

Virden neighbourhoods overrun by water Ben Miljure reports on the worsening flood situation in Virden, Manitoba.

Rising floodwaters have forced some Virden residents to evacuate their homes. Police have started evacuating residents living along the creek.

Police told residents they could be out of their homes for at least a couple of days.

Crews closed Highway 1 near Virden shortly before 4:00 p.m. because of water covering the road.

Dozens of volunteers continue to battle high water in Virden. The town has been hard hit by this weekend’s rainfall.

Some homes have already been inundated by water and others are surrounded.

After the area received nearly 150 millimetres of rain in a 24-hour period, one normally calm creek spilled its banks and began to threaten homes.

Three pumps work around the clock to drain the water from Maxine Chacun’s basement.

"My husband made a hole in the floor today to put another one in," said Chacun. "I went down to my basement at 6:30 this morning and saw a little bit of water, so I went to tell my husband and then it just started coming up and coming up."

Volunteers worked into the night Sunday, filling and deploying sand bags to dozens of other homes at risk of flooding.

As fast as they could lay them down, the high water threatened to breach them, and in some places did.

"We've had more than six inches of water come down in a 24-hour period, and we're just trying to cope with that, and the water keeps coming," said Virden Mayor Jeff McConnell

Despite the daunting challenge, spirits in the community remained high as the volunteers came together to try and protect their neighbours’ properties.

"Just got to help the community,” said Brock Koop. “You know, it's fun growing up here and you just got to come together and help out in a time like this. That's why I'm here, for sure."

That attitude does not surprise Mayor McConnell, who says he's come to expect nothing less from the people of Virden.

"We put out the call and this is the amount of people who showed up. It's been tremendous. We're really excited about this."

As the water continues to rise, he says this is already the worst flood he's ever seen in the town.

- With a report by Ben Miljure