'It comes at a rapid pace': Flash flooding sparks local state of emergency in Manitoba municipality
A local state of emergency has been declared for the municipality of Boissevain-Morton due to overland flooding and washed out roads.
Head of Council for Boissevain-Morton Judy Swanson said the state of emergency went into effect Wednesday morning after learning of rapid flash flooding south of town.
"Where we're located is at the base of the Turtle Mountains and if we get the thaw that is quick, it comes at a rapid pace out of the mountains. And that's what happened," said Swanson.
She said there are several creeks in the area and when there is a quick melt, they swell and can washout roads.
"Some of the roads had several places where the water went over the roads. We're not sure what's underneath that water. So we had to be precautionary more than anything. We try to make sure that everybody's safe.
The municipality said at least 70 per cent of roads in the southern portion of the RM dealt with overland flooding and were unsafe for travel.
Swanson noted the situation was at its worst Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Since then, things have improved.
"(Crews) worked all night and through the middle of the night, like 2:30 a.m., they actually had to cut one of the roads in particular that was near town. The water had reached the town and if we hadn't cut the road, it would have backed up and caused considerable damage," said Swanson.
"As the day progressed, a lot of that water has gone through and is now heading to Whitewater Lake and on into the system. So it was just that initial, when it first comes."
She said they are past the crisis stage of the state of emergency, but noted they plan to have it in place for the next month as a precautionary measure.
Boissevain is over 260 kilometres away from Winnipeg and directly south of Brandon.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
President Joe Biden calls Japan and India 'xenophobic' nations that do not welcome immigrants
President Joe Biden has called Japan and India “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants, lumping the two with adversaries China and Russia as he tried to explain their economic circumstances and contrasted the four with the U.S. on immigration.
Universities grapple with the complicated politics of campus encampments
Montreal police are facing pressure to move in and dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment on McGill University campus on Thursday, as a growing number of universities across this country grapple with the tough decision of how to handle the protests.