Flood

Flood-weary Swan River residents praise neighbours' help as waters rise

'An amazing community, and willing to step up and help anybody, anywhere, anytime,' area farmer says

People in Swan River are lauding the western Manitoba town's community spirit as it fights widespread major flooding and starts contemplating a massive cleanup effort in the months ahead.

Area farmer Johnny Wintoniw said his neighbours leaped into action to help this week as floodwater rose to levels he's never seen, threatening the pasture and barn used by his small herd of cows, goats and pigs.

In an interview with CBC Thursday, Wintoniw described floodwater coming off a nearby creek and rapidly rising during this week's rainstorms in the Parkland region. He started to panic when water swept over the highway and into the pasture, he said.

By the time he was able to move the animals — which are "like family" to his children, he said — to the safety of his barn, the water had started to seep in there as well.

"This is unheard of for water to ever reach this high on the property," Wintoniw said.

That prompted a change of plans, and he hustled to get the hodgepodge of creatures into his trailer for speedy transport to safety.

"It was almost like they knew something wasn't right," he said of how quickly the herd crammed into the vehicle. "They became instant friends," he joked.

But the big problem: where to take them? The water was still rising, and fast. If they didn't move out soon, they'd be stuck there, he said.

"That was the scariest experience," said Wintoniw.

His wife called out for help on a local Facebook flood page, and "within minutes," it was shared dozens of times. Wintoniw was able to truck the animals to a safe pasture, where he said they've been treated to a "five-star vacation."

"This community is by far an amazing community, and willing to step up and help anybody, anywhere, anytime," Wintoniw said.

Parts of the town of Swan River, about 380 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, remains under a mandatory evacuation order, and highway access is cut off. That means fuel and food may need to be airlifted in to the town's more than 5,000 residents, Mayor Lance Jacobson said Thursday.

Nearly 270 millimetres of rain hit the town and area in June, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada data.

Local Home Hardware store owner Rachel Schindler said recent days have been "hectic." Luckily, after massive rainfall in early June, the company was able to ship in a special delivery of flood-fighting supplies like sump pumps, generators and dehumidifiers before this week's crisis hit.

Finding supplies and keeping basements dry are among the big battles people are fighting, Schindler said.

She and her staff have been working overtime to help people out, even opening the store after hours on request for people in need, she said.

That's on top of her personal efforts to lend a hand to those who need it: a senior who didn't know how to use a sump pump got a personal visit and hands-on demo. Same for a local single mom of four with a newborn, Schindler said.

"We're doing what we can to help out whoever we can," she told CBC, crediting her staff of "rock stars" for going above and beyond.

While her store still has some stock of many major items to deal with water, the big need in Swan River is large hoses for the sump pumps, Schindler said.

"A bigger hose is going to move more water faster than a garden hose is," she said. "It was a pretty sad moment when the last one left the store."

Western Manitoba First Nation declares state of emergency as flooding sparks calls for federal aid

On a tour of the Parklands region Thursday, Premier Wab Kinew pledged financial assistance for affected communities. He's also asked for military help from the federal government.

Kinew said infrastructure renewal after the waters recede will focus on reconstruction with more flood resilience at the forefront.

Eleanor Olszewski, Canada's minister of emergency management, says some kind of personnel deployment is planned to assist with Manitoba's flood recovery, but the details are still being finalized.

With files from Sofia Peralta-Baron and The Canadian Press