Many cottage owners with property along Manitoba lakes are still repairing damage done by the flood of 2011. Now the province is warning them they could be in for some rough weather this fall.
An empty lot of sand remains where Dennis Turek's cottage at Twin Lakes Beach once stood, destroyed by the flood two years ago.
"Right now where I'm standing was probably my bay window,” he said. “It was probably the most scary, shocking experience of my life. We're very, very fortunate we didn't lose any lives, that's how bad it was.”
Turek bought a cottage a few lots down and is fixing it up. Now, he and others here are worried the flood could happen all over again.
“Right now we're a ticking time bomb,” he said.
The province has issued a high wind and high water advisory for the big lakes hit by the 2011 disaster. Officials say a combination of higher lake levels from spring run-off plus high winds could cause problems along shorelines.
The provincial advisory lists Lake Manitoba, Lake St. Martin, Lake Winnipeg, Lake Winnipegosis, and Dauphin Lake.
“It scares all the people trying to rebuild, you know, the people are investing trying to bring this strip of paradise back to life,” said Turek.
Cottager Stuart McLellan is rebuilding, even though he's still waiting for all of his compensation. High winds and spring runoff aren't the culprits, he said.
The problem is high water levels, he said, and he believes a second flood is preventable. “It shouldn't have to get to that.
“In hindsight, they shouldn't allow the lake to get that high again. It just makes sense to me.”
Turek can't imagine what a second wave of water here would mean. “If we experience again what we expereinced in 2011, I think it would be the breaking point for most people,” he said.
The province said lake levels are generally lower than they were in 2011 but officials are still telling cottage owners to move valuables to higher ground and to protect their properties.
- With a report by Jeff Keele
