As a major multi-agency effort continues to restore power and clear debris in many areas of Manitoba, temperatures are co-operating to allow a slow melt of remaining snow.

Eleven municipalities have declared local states of emergency, including the City of Winnipeg, in addition to the provincial declaration that allows Manitoba Hydro to access resources in other jurisdictions.

Manitoba Hydro advises that hundreds of power poles need to be replaced. For more information on outages, visit hydro.mb.ca.

As of the morning of October 16, 50 to 100 millimetres of precipitation has fallen in the central, Interlake, southern and southeast portions of the province since last Thursday. Most of the precipitation fell as snow in the western, central and Interlake regions, and as a rain/snow mix in southern and southeast Manitoba. There is still a significant amount of snow accumulation in the central, south, southwest and Interlake regions.

Municipal and provincial officials continue to monitor rivers, lakes and streams. Water bodies in south and southeast Manitoba have peaked in the areas of the Roseau River, Rat River, Vita, Gardenton and Joubert Creek. Localized overland flooding continues in low-lying areas.

Temperatures between 0 C and 4 C in the past few days have started a gradual melt in some areas of south and central Manitoba. Temperatures are forecast to rise to up to 10 C at the end of this week, which could start a faster melt and increase run-off in south, southwest and central Manitoba. Flows are gradually increasing in these areas and will continue to increase until the melt is completed. Most rivers and creeks are expected to remain within their banks.

Levels on the Red River continue to rise on average between 0.4 and 0.9 feet per day along the Red River Valley. The peak is expected to arrive between Oct. 20 and 23. On the north side of St. Adolphe, high levels required some ditches to be filled in along PR 200 to help keep water out of the community.

The Red River Floodway is expected to operate until the end of October. It was activated at approximately 7 p.m. on Oct. 9, under Rule 4 to lower levels within the city of Winnipeg. The current Red River at James Avenue within Winnipeg is slightly above 15 ft. and expected to crest between 16 and 16.3 ft.

The Whiteshell lakes are mostly near peak levels. Caddy Lake overflow continues to cover portions of PR 312 but the road is passable with caution.

Caution is advised as the high water levels in many areas may affect nearby infrastructure.

Manitoba Sustainable Development has set up seven publicly accessible areas with empty sandbags and sand:

  • South Whiteshell Caddy Lake boat launch,
  • Green Bay Road behind the garbage cage,
  • West Hawk Lake maintenance yard,
  • Falcon Lake maintenance yard,
  • North Whiteshell across from Brereton Lake Resort,
  • Nutimik Lake Block 1 boat launch, and
  • Dorothy Lake trout pond.

The following trails are closed as of Oct. 15:

  • Bear Lake hiking trail;
  • Mantario Trail (South Trailhead to Caribou Lake);
  • Mantario water route south end (no travel from Caddy Lake to Sailing Lake including South Cross Lake and North Cross Lake tunnels);
  • Whiteshell River hiking trail;
  • McGillivray Falls hiking trail; and
  • Caddy Lake tunnels.

Manitoba Infrastructure provides daily updates and more information at gov.mb.ca.