MANITOBA, Winnipeg - Manitoba officials were working quickly Monday to build higher dikes along the Assiniboine River, while their counterparts in Saskatchewan warned that flooding would remain a threat for the rest of the month.For the past week, much of the Prairie provinces has been flooded or in danger of being so, with parts of the region seeing the highest water levels in 150 years.
About 700 people in Manitoba have already been forced from their homes, dozens of roads have been closed, and officials are urging more vigilance.- "Many of the crests are some time off," Emergency Measures Minister Steve Ashton said on Sunday. "We're not even necessarily at the end of the beginning of the spring flood stage."
- One of the province's major trade routes, Highway 75, was closed Monday because rising water on the Red River and its tributaries made it impassable.
- Truckers heading to the U.S. are being forced to make extensive detours due to the closure.
Dikes along the Assiniboine upstream of Winnipeg were built to withstand water levels seen in 1976, the worst year on record. But the river was ice-free that year, and officials worry that ice jams this year will make water levels worse than they would otherwise be.Officials said the water level dropped overnight on the Assiniboine in Brandon, but flood watches are still in effect from Russell to Portage la Prairie.
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