Residents of Brandon, Manitoba's second largest city, are hoping for the best but bracing for the worst as rising river levels threaten to flood low-lying areas. About 4,000 people have been placed on an evacuation alert, told to be ready to leave at short notice while officials watch the water climb. The anxious wait has turned an ordinary summer weekend into a tense vigil for a community that knows all too well what a swollen river can do.
The threat comes from the Assiniboine, the winding river on whose banks Brandon sits, about 220 kilometres west of Winnipeg. Water levels are already two and a half metres higher than normal after a run of heavy rains, and the river is expected to crest within the next 24 hours. Forecasters say another half metre or so could come overnight, and that the elevated levels will likely hold for a couple of days before they begin to ease.
For people living closest to the water, the priority is being ready to go. Lana Carnegie, who lives two blocks from the Assiniboine with her two pets, is among the roughly 4,000 under the evacuation warning. She said she had already stacked the kennels, food and her animals' favourite toys by the back door, so that if the order comes to leave, there will be no scramble to gather what matters most before heading out.
City officials say they are better prepared than they were the last time the river turned dangerous. Brandon's mayor expressed confidence in the work crews have already done and in the improvements made to bridges, roads and dikes since a major flood struck the region in 2011. From the lift stations to the dikes themselves, he said, everything is being watched constantly as the water rises, with monitoring the watchword through the critical hours.
Even so, the defences are being tested in real time. As officials described the preparations, water began leaking through the super sandbag dikes and spilling over a major thoroughfare, forcing city crews to move in quickly and set up pumps to clear it away. It was a stark reminder that, however thorough the planning, a river at this height leaves little room for error and demands constant attention at every weak point.
Brandon's ordeal is part of a wider crisis across western Manitoba, which has been battered by a series of storms and record rainfall. Roads, bridges and train tracks have been washed out in the deluge, and the regional hospital is expected to remain closed for months because of flood damage. The scale of the destruction has stretched local resources and left communities across the region reckoning with a long and costly recovery.
The province has stepped in with both praise and support. Premier Wab Kinew commended Brandon for anticipating and preparing for the flood, and announced a new flood recovery assistance program to help people who do not have insurance. The province is also matching charitable donations made to the Canadian Red Cross, committing an initial 15 million dollars, as officials brace for the possibility that wider provincial disaster assistance may still be needed.
For now, there is a measure of cautious hope. With no rain in the forecast until around Wednesday and hot, dry weather helping to hold the situation in check, residents and officials alike are keeping a close eye on the water. They are counting on the years of preparation, the reinforced dikes and the round-the-clock monitoring to carry Brandon through the crest without the losses that a historic flood once inflicted.