City makes DFA request to province

The City of Brandon is making a request for disaster financial assistance to the provincial government after it was hammered by heavy rains late last month and has done flooding prevention this past week.

The city declared a state of emergency on Saturday after creating a temporary dike on Grand Valley Road the day before, in order to keep flood waters out of the city. Pumps around Kirkcaldy Drive are also helping to prevent flooding.

Water levels on the Assiniboine River have been high for multiple months, with flood warnings along the river spanning from the Shellmouth Dam north of Russell to Brandon.

City emergency co-ordinator Tobin Praznik said the water levels in Brandon will rise rapidly on Thursday and peak three days later, following heavy rain upstream on the Assiniboine.

He said as of Monday, the water levels will be over the river’s banks until Aug. 2, but that could change with additional rainfall.

A graph shown at council on Monday indicated that the forecasted 1,183-foot peak for the river at Brandon’s 18th Street is two feet lower than the same time during the 2014 flood — and nearly identical to the 1,183.005-foot peak of the 2011 flood.

“We’re going to continue to monitor. At the end of the day, what we see today could be different again tomorrow and could be different before the floodwaters do come,” Praznik said.

He said the city isn’t immune to flooding, but that “our infrastructure is solid” and there are steps in place to mitigate risks.

“Whatever comes our way, we’ll take the necessary steps. It’s really all hands on deck right now,” he said.

Kyle Winters, the city’s director of engineering, said staff are working to fill sandbags.

Mayor Jeff Fawcett also warned residents to stay away from the river, dike and construction equipment.

After the meeting, Fawcett said the city is trying to be ahead of everything.

“The fortunate thing is we have some really good infrastructure in place, we’re enhancing with the information that we have, and we’re doing all our due diligence, trying to control everything we can control,” Fawcett said.

“It’s going to come down to one of the things we can’t control, weather being a big piece, but the team has been doing a really good job in preparation.”

Provincial disaster financial assistance could allow the city to recuperate costs associated with flooding and mitigation measures. It could also help recuperate costs for residents who are affected by the flooding.

The city on Tuesday said the program can assist eligible homeowners, tenants and individuals with certain uninsurable damages from the heavy rain and recovery costs. But it does not replace all losses.

“Residents who sustained damage are encouraged to documenting losses, retaining receipts, taking photographs of damaged property, and review their insurance coverage as soon as possible,” the city said in a press release.

Residents should also contact their insurance provider to determine what coverage is available to them, the city said.

Premier Wab Kinew announced last week that $5 million will be made available to municipalities through the DFA program.

Flooding has been the harshest in the Swan River area. It has also impacted other communities, including Dauphin and other parts of the Parkland, the Boissevain and Deloraine areas along with parts of the Interlake and towns north of Winnipeg.

The City of Brandon in a council report for the DFA program pointed to a storm system that dumped water on June 29, submerging several city streets.

Brandon received 80.9 millimetres of rain on June 29 at the municipal airport, including 78.3 mm in a span of three hours, Environment and Climate Change Canada’s historical data show. Some reports indicated that the western part of the city may have received even more rain.

That same storm pummeled Boissevain with 152 mm of rain and Deloraine with nearly 130 mm.

The City of Brandon has also been under a flood warning since June 10.

Some trails at the Riverbank Discovery Centre have been closed for weeks. Other land in the city, including BYSA Park’s soccer pitches and greenspace at Queen Elizabeth Park, were also submerged with floodwater as of Monday.

» alambert@brandonsun.com