Brandon Burley said about 50 homes have been affected so far, but that number is expected to rise amid a rain warning that applies to much of the southern half of the county. Flood crews are closely monitoring the area’s catchment area, which was already high after heavy rains last weekend. This rain melted snow piles from a storm last month. “The catchment was already high in many places with water. And so now … the ladder is tilting more or less,” Burley said. “It will probably get worse before it gets better. But we have a lot of crews and volunteers helping, so we will do everything we can to help the people affected by it.” Environment Canada says between 10 and 25 millimeters of rain is expected in southern Manitoba by Sunday. A Morden neighborhood evacuated on Saturday had already seen its bridge collapse during high water levels over the weekend, Burley said. A section of Mountain Street on Parkhill Drive closed in Morden on Saturday. (Radjaa Abdelsadok / Radio Canada)
Crews had built an emergency road that came out of this community, but people living there were now being asked to leave because of concerns about the road’s ability to support traffic over time, he said. Burley urged people to heed the call if asked to leave their homes. Not leaving when it is supposed to endanger emergency services, he said. “We had some people who refused to leave their homes when the emergency staff arrived and then later called and said, ‘The water is coming, maybe now is the time.’ So we had to go back,” he said. “We do not issue, you know, evacuation alerts or emergencies.” He also asked people to stay safe and not get too close to the rising water while trying to take pictures. “It’s fun to see things like this, but as emergency personnel try to get out and around … it can get annoying,” Burley said. Morden’s Mountain Street South on the bridge was among many parts of the city underwater on Saturday. (Submitted by Brandon Burley)
“People just have to stay safe. We do not want people to drown or become too adventurous or weird.” Emergency operations are running out of time at the Morden Civic Center, Burley said, and people forced to flee their homes will be placed in cots at the city’s Access Event Center or nearby hotels if needed. The high water causes bridges and culverts that drain the nearby Deadhorse Creek through the area’s catchment area to a point of congestion, leading to land flooding that threatens homes near the water, Burley said. Several roads in northwestern Morden were already closed on Saturday, while others beginning to see high water may soon be blocked as well, he said. Those who live in high-risk areas that have not yet been evacuated receive help from flood crews to put sandbags around their homes. Burley said he was waiting to help fill and deliver these bags later Saturday. For now, flood repair crews are taking things one step at a time. “It will depend on what happens in the next 24 hours with the rain, in fact, in our catchment area, what will determine … whether or not we need to take more dramatic action,” he said. “Right now, we’re just dealing with what ‘s here and preparing for what we think may come tonight and tomorrow.”

“Very scary,” says the Morden resident

Ron and Doreen Martins live in Morden and say the creek is probably the tallest the 50-year-old has lived in the southern city of Manitoba. “It’s probably comparable to ’97. We had no problem here at that point … the creek was deep enough right there to protect that particular area. So I think we’re okay,” Doreen said. The high water levels are equivalent to the Morden course, Ron added. Ron and Doreen Martins say they have never seen the creek across Morden so flooded. (Thomas Asselin / Radio Canada)
“This is something that happens every now and then and we are used to it.” Lee-Anne Reddekopp says her house was not affected by the floods, but she helped a friend draw water from her basement and now the water is running again. “It’s very scary. People’s homes are in danger – to lose all their things and things, I imagine it’s really scary for them,” he said. Reddekopp says it does not worry too much about its home, but stress does come in handy whenever water levels rise.