Manitoba Prepares for Floods

Each spring, after surviving a bone-chilling winter, Manitoba anticipates the country's worst flooding before mosquito season sets in.

Manitoba's annual flood season is well underway, and the Winnipeg Free Press's coverage of the rising rivers is second to none. The rising levels of the Assiniboine River have forced Brandon, Man., and a slew of smaller southwestern Manitoba communities to declare states of emergency as they prepare for coming floods, while low-lying First Nations communities near Winnipeg have been evacuated. All eyes are on the Red River, which is cresting in North Dakota now and is expected to do the same in Manitoba in the next week. Two men have already died in the flooding, which is expected to be more widespread but hopefully less severe than in previous years.