Manitoba dike breach could reopen

People who livearound the Hoop and Holler Bend in southern Manitoba are scrambling,wonderingwhat to do if theprovinceintentionally breaches thedike again.

Shea Doherty, wholives nearby the bend, received a bulletin from a friend telling him about the possible action.

While Doherty hasn't yet removedthe protection built aroundhis home during the intentional breach on May 14,many other peopleliving in the areahave.

"I guess they'd even requested to the [rural municipality officials],'can you leave the dikes up for a little bit longer?' And the RM's like, 'no, we want to get our job done' and they took 'em out," said Doherty, whosefamily farms just south of the Hoop and Holler Bend, where the breach site islocated along an oxbow of the Assiniboine River.

Hesaid people in the region are desperate for any information they can get from the Rural Municipalityof Portage la Prairie and the province.

Dike breached in May

The dike was intentionally cutin May becausethe rising Assiniboine was putting pressure on protective dikes in many places along the river.

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The flow of the river at one point was equal tohalf that of therate of Niagara Falls, according to flood officials.

An uncontrolled break could have spilled water onto more than 500 square kilometres of land and impacted an estimated 850 homes, the province said at the time. The intentionalbreach was expected toprevent such a catastrophe by threatening just 150 homes across 225 square kilometres.

A frantic sandbagging effort was launched ahead of the breach by homeowners and members of the Canadian Forces who were in the province to help battle the flood.

Then excavators created a 20-metre wide breach through a roadway at the Hoop and Holler Bend that had doubled as a dike.

In the end, however, fewer than 3.5 square kilometres were affected by the breach andthe dike was sealed a week later when river levels began to recede.

Steve Ashton, Manitoba's Emergency Measures minister, said Friday thatreopening the Hoop and Holler cut was a "possibility, not a probability," adding thatno decision could be made untilofficials assess the impact of forecasted rainshowers.

Healso saidanother intentional flood would be alast resort move.

Nevertheless, heavy equipment was being moved into place at the bend.

Desperate situation

Flooding concerns have soared again with news that another major storm is tracking toward Manitoba.

On Wednesday, theprovincial government said it expects the additional rain topush its flood-fighting capacity to the limit.

Emergency Measures Minister Steve Ashton describedthe situationas desperate.

"Words just can't describe the, the monumental nature of this," he said.

The flood on the Assiniboine River at Portage la Prairie, about70 kilometres west of Winnipeg on the Trans-Canada Highway,is now considered to be a one-in-350-year event, the province said on Wednesday.

In the town of Souris on Wednesday night,officials issued evacuation orders to 23 properties along the east side of the Souris river. The people living in the homes have until 4 p.m. Fridayto leave.

Those are the first evacuations for the townthis year.

"It's just the ominous threat of more rain plus the continued high river water, the worry of how long our dikes can take it," said Mayor Darryl Jackson, addingthe river is now higher than it has been at any point this spring.

"People are using half tons, flatbed trailers from neighbours, farmers, etc.," Jacksonsaid of the effort togetresidents to safety. "It's hard work today but people, they understand and they are abiding by the rules."

About 60 people were affected by the evacuation notice. The town says it will let evacuees back twice a day to check onwater pumps.

The river is expected to crest in Sourisduring the last week of June.