Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, Dauphin MLA and Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn, RM of Dauphin Reeve Ernie Sirski, and City of Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak attended a meeting at Dauphin City Hall earlier today, to discuss the various impacts of flooding and heavy rainfall in the area in the past week, and what solutions there are for problems faced by many residents.
After the meeting, Premier Kinew announced the Province will be creating a $5M Cash Advance with Disaster Financial Assistance. He was very thankful for the Municipality's collaboration with the Province around the creation of the program.
"I was relieved to hear from one of the municipal officials, say that they'd heard from emergency management officials this morning, telling them about the initiative, and saying what do you need, so that we can get folks back to normal as soon as possible...we don't want any resource or financial question to get in the way of getting people back to normal, so that's why we want to work together collaboratively," said Premier Kinew.
With the rainfall and flooding, several essential services in the Parkland have been severely disrupted, including the Dauphin Regional Health Centre. Premier Kinew and other officials are set for a tour of the damage there. Due to the flooding of their basement, the DRHC had to close their emergency room, and evacuate a number of their patients.
Prairie Mountain Health and Shared Health Manitoba have opened a temporary clinic, across from the hospital for now. Premier Kinew said in much of Manitoba where road travel isn't an option, anyone needing medical assistance should call 911 or their local emergency services, and not risk travel.
"In areas close to Dauphin, and in some of these areas where road access is a real possibility, then of course that mobile clinic across from the Dauphin Hospital, the Ste. Rose emergency department, these are areas you can access," said Premier Kinew.
Looking ahead, much of the Parkland's infrastructure has been damaged, either by washouts or other flood-related causes, or intentionally being destroyed to make way for flood waters. A prime example is Highway 10, west of Swan River, which had to be cut. With today's climate more unpredictable than ever, Premier Kinew said any infrastructure repairs will be made while keeping in mind flood and damage mitigation.
"Now that we've seen what can happen with a changing climate, we need to build infrastructure that's going to meet that need," said Premier Kinew.
Swan River and the RM of Swan Valley West have been hit especially hard. After some flooding from heavy rainfalls in June, Monday's storm prompted several mandatory evacuation orders within the Town, and several road closures in the RM. Premier Kinew and other officials will be in the area later today to assess the new damage, after a visit last month. He expects communication and collaboration with Swan River and the RM of Swan Valley West to be very straightforward.
"Right now, the biggest need is to make sure that they get the resources, the supplies, the pumps, the sandbags to be able to stabilize the situation...the communication will be good. Obviously there's always room for improvement, but I think the municipal leaders in the region know how to get a hold of me directly, they know how to get a hold of the emergency management officials," said Premier Kinew.
In the past week, Swan River has recieved approximately 150mm of rain. For information on the Province's Disaster Financial Assistance Program, click here to visit their website.
