Flood Victims Out Of Luck On Insurance Coverage

Residents of Slave Lake were recently devastated by forest fires which swept through the northern Alberta community, destroying hundreds of homes. But they have one consolation. The damage is most likely covered by insurance. Not so for people in flood-ravaged Manitoba who will have to rely on government disaster assistance to help compensate for damage

Province To Fund Youth For Sandbag Cleanup

The province will spend $3.2 million to create jobs for up to 500 students and youth who will be part of teams that will do flood protection, recovery and cleanup work in communities affected by flooding, Premier Greg Selinger announced June 3. “We recognize that flood-affected communities need workers to assist with ongoing flood protection,


Special Flood Aid Welcome: KAP

Daily talks between the Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) and Agriculture Minister Stan Struthers about flooding appears to have paid off, says KAP president Doug Chorney. The province adopted KAP’s call for 100 per cent compensation for farmers artificially flooded, including lost income, in the Manitoba government’s Flood 2011 Building and Recovery Action Plan announced May

Farmers Should Be Paid For Stewardship Role

Amid the extensive coverage local and national media provided recently of high water on the Assiniboine River, one phrase kept echoing in my memory, “Never waste a crisis.” General Rick Hillier, retired Canadian chief of defence staff, uttered that profound advice and it is something Manitoba farmers should take to heart. For a moment we


Use LIDAR For Flood Control, Province Told

Manitoba’s Chambers of Commerce wants the provincial government to go “light” on floods. The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce is asking the province to use Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) to help control flooding in the Red River Valley and Assiniboine River basins. LIDAR is an optical remote sensing technology which accurately measures the distance to

Sweeping Flood Aid Announced For Livestock Producers

Although the details are still being worked out, the Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) is welcoming the compensation the province is offering livestock producers affected by flooding and blizzards this spring as a “meaningful recovery package.” “MBP commends the province for the leadership it is providing at the provincial level with the announcement of special aid


Aid Package For Flooded Farmers

The Manitoba government announced several compensation programs worth an estimated $44 million for farmers May 24 as part of a sweeping $175-million package of mitigation and compensation measures related to flooding in the province. There is a program for farmers south of the Hoop and Holler Bend near Portage la Prairie and surrounding Lake Manitoba

Why Some Floods Last Longer

We’re getting used to more frequent floods in the Red River basin. But, now, in some parts of the basin, we’re also faced with flood waters staying around longer. They call it “duration.” We can understand high waters at the peak of a flood. But it’s getting to be weeks now, and waters are still


Why Hoop And Holler Site Was Chosen

Once only known to locals as a former destination for some whooping and hollering, this oxbow is now a national icon as the place where flood fighters tried something never done before in this province. Choosing this site for a deliberate breach makes sense despite the protests of local farmers that it will affect highly

Making Friends With The Enemy

You can’t help but marvel at Manitoba’s capacity for fighting water. It’s become part of who we are as a province – Herculean efforts of people, money, sand and machines against the forces of nature. As we went to press this week, it was not clear who would win this latest round. This province is