Resort owner Amy Vereb says she will be one of many people in Whiteshell who will be left behind to protect her properties from rising water after an extended evacuation order goes into effect on Tuesday.
“There are so many of us here that that’s all we have, and I don’t think people realize that,” said Vereb, owner of Otter Falls Resort.
“This is not just a rural country.”
The evacuation order for the northern part of Whiteshell Provincial Park in eastern Manitoba is extended to 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Over the past week, Vereb has seen Lake Margaret rise from the beach a few feet from the door of the resort’s main hostel.
“Here’s a devastation,” he said.
“A lot of people will lose everything. I’m lucky right now. My house is on a high ground. My house isn’t. We’re trying to save it, but a lot of people have lost everything.”
Vereb and her husband send their two young children to stay with their grandparents, while they stay to work with friends, family, and neighbors to put sandbags.
Many in the community feel that they have not received the support they need from the government, Vereb said.
“That’s what I’m hearing from local people is just the frustration of not getting enough help. We’re doing the best we can here with our family and friends and the support of the guys on the other side.”
The Prime Minister, leader of the opposition turns flood
Prime Minister Heather Stefanson, along with members of her cabinet and opposition leader Wab Kinew, took an aerial tour of the floods in Whiteshell on Tuesday.
“There’s so much water out there that’s overwhelming,” Stefanson told reporters after the tour, adding that forecasts expect the Winnipeg River to continue to rise.
While Manitobans have already faced flooding before, this year is especially difficult because of the extent of the flood, he said.
“What’s different is that he’s coming from all angles, or from all directions, and so he’s affecting a lot more Manitobans at the same time than maybe in the past.”
Crowds of sandbags fill bags in a tank near Otter Falls Resort. (Tyson Koschik / CBC)
In response to criticism that she and her government have not been proactive enough in the fight against flooding, Stefanson said her team has been doing an amazing job all day, working between departments and levels of government.
“Things have been changing rapidly throughout the floods from different areas,” he said.
“We are all meeting through the party lines as well, we recognize the challenges facing Manitobans across the province, and we will continue to make sure we provide them with as much information in a timely manner.”
Kinew said he was surprised by the number of homes, cottages and businesses affected by the flood and evacuation orders, and thanked provincial staff who are working to fight the floods.
“Certainly our hearts go out to all those affected. There is a lot of water right now.”
The evacuation is expanding
The evacuation area extends from the west entrance of Highway 307 east to the junction of Highways 307 and 309.
Sylvia Lake, Eleanor Lake, Otter Falls, Barrier Bay and Nutimik Lake will be closed, as well as the current Betula Lake closure area announced Friday, the province said in a press release Sunday.
In a statement Tuesday, a provincial spokesman said approximately 475 cottages and 44 commercial operations in the affected area were identified, in addition to the evacuation of Lake Betula. All were alerted, along with people with camping reservations in the affected areas.
The province has also set up a call center for homeowners.
“Manitoba Forest Fire Service has deployed 84 staff members, three members of the incident management team and two doctors to support sandbag operations in Whiteshell Provincial Park,” the statement said. .
Thousands of sandbags have been provided for use at Whiteshell and 1,000 feet of Tiger Dam pipes have been filled into Lake Nutimik. The province is also working to get a sand machine for the region, according to the statement.
The province urges people not to enter or return to their properties in the area. Anyone who is already there should plan to leave as soon as possible.
The night and seasonal camping at Dorothy Lake, Opapiskaw and Nutimik Lake campsites and the night camping on the south shore of Big Whiteshell Lake closed on Monday at 3 p.m. The closures will remain in effect until June 6, the province said.
All background campsites in Whiteshell Provincial Park are closed.
Many roads are flooded and could be flooded even further, making travel conditions treacherous.
Heavy spring rainfall in southern and central Manitoba has pushed water levels to their highest points in years, and Whiteshell has been particularly hard hit. The precipitation in the Whiteshell Lakes area surpassed the 1951 weather records.