A weekend downpour put more than a damper on cottagers and people living in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

Heavy rain washed out roads and caused significant damage, leaving park visitors and cottagers stranded.

On Sunday the province recommended people continue to self-evacuate as road conditions deteriorated.

The province said it must wait for water levels recede before repairs start. Until then cottagers need to rely on boats to get on and off the lake.

Stranded mother Jennifer Martens was determined to get back to the city with her baby Sunday.

"You know we have one way out of the lake here. We want to go home. That's just the way it's going to be," she said, just moments after driving her car on a road that looked more like a river.

Park patrol officers told Martens not to drive through the flooding, but she crossed anyway. Martens said it was scary but is thankful she made it across safely.

“I was very concerned. Running out of diapers. Running out of milk,” said Martens. “We have jobs. We want to get back to the city.”

Up to 140 millimetres of rain fell in the Whiteshell Saturday. The water caved asphalt and eroded highways, flooded trails and marinas.

"It seems like it's one thing or another. If it's not a fire, it's a flood, and what's next," said fisher Bill Johannesen, who was making his way back to Winnipeg midday Sunday.

South East Whiteshell Fire Department Chief Bruce Morrison expects road repairs to take weeks. He said Sunday some roads have reopened since but rising water levels is closing others.

"Hopefully we don't get much more rain because that will just lead to more devastation here and it's going to put a damper on some cottagers because they may not feel safe coming out," said Morrison.

Flooding forced guests at Falcon Trails Resort to abandon their vehicles, another damper from the extreme weather.

“This is nothing like fires in Alberta, but boy this is just really incredible," said Gord Pickens who works with the resort and brought guests back to shore on a rented pontoon boat Sunday.