A Manitoba border town appears to have escaped the wrath of Red River flooding this year, while residents of Winnipeg and its surrounding northern communities are still waiting to see what the spring thaw will bring them.
The river has already crested in the border town of Emerson, Man., but the water is two metres below the top of the town's protective dikes and flood forecasters do not expect the water to rise much further.
Provincial officials decided to partially activate Winnipeg's man-made floodway that diverts part of the river's flow around the city on Wednesday.
Emergency Measures Minister Steve Ashton said the stubborn ice means there is a good chance of localized flooding caused by ice jams all along the river.
He added that the decision to open the province's floodway, despite the thick ice still on the river, has saved about 100 homes in Winnipeg from flooding.
"This is unprecedented," Ashton said, referring to the massive ice jams. "It's not normal."
The rising Red River is still covered in a thick layer of ice -- almost 77 centimetres thick in parts. Authorities predict water levels could rise in Winnipeg to just over 5.8 metres Thursday in the first of several surges expected during the next few weeks.
About 150 property owners near the river have been told they should prepare for the possibility of evacuations.
Leanne Ainley, who lives in an imperiled Winnipeg neighbourhood, said she's been watching the river nervously.
"We have to be prepared to leave our homes and we have to move everything up from the basement, at least, and be ready to lock the door and go," she said.
Ainley told CTV Winnipeg Thursday that she's been monitoring the water levels on a series of steps in her yard, and she believes that the water must only rise above one more step before she flees.
"It's definitely been a little bit stressful in the last couple of days."
Several homeowners south of the city had to leave their homes temporarily on Thursday when water spilled onto a local roadway. The city has also asked for more volunteers to help vulnerable communities bulk up their sandbag dikes by another 30 centimetres.
The weather is expected to warm up over the weekend, but local water managers believe the ice will remain lodged.
"It seems that ice is fairly persistent -- we may see it for another day or two," said Steve Topping from Manitoba Water Stewardship.
"It is unprecedented that the ice has not moved out."
Still, crews were working with heavy equipment Thursday to try and bust up the large ice chunks on the Red River.
Although the north-flowing Red River has not risen to the crest of 13 metres seen in Fargo, N.D. over the past few weeks, a lot of farmland in the southern part of the province has been flooded, particularly near the small community of St. Jean Baptiste, Man., near the U.S. border.
With files from The Canadian Press
