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The province is expanding in-person flood-recovery support for residents in Swan River and Swan Valley West as cleanup and damage assessments continue across the region.
Manitoba’s Emergency Management Organization, working with the Canadian Red Cross, will offer walk-in assistance to help residents navigate insurance claims, Disaster Financial Assistance applications and other recovery programs.
Dates and locations for the in-person sessions will be announced in the coming days.
Officials say the goal is to make the recovery process easier for households dealing with flood damage by providing direct support and clear guidance on what programs are available and who qualifies.
EMO continues to work with municipalities, Indigenous leadership and federal partners to ensure communities have access to all available resources.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Kamryn Winters, Executive Director of the Parkland Chamber of Commerce, has seen first-hand how the Parkland's business community has been affected by recent flooding.
The Chamber's new Flood Recovery Business Directory was born from a question: who better to help the Parkland, than the Parkland?
"We decide to feature all our chamber members that are trusted businesses that can help with flood relief...at the end of the day it's our local businesses and our community that always steps up, and they're there for each other," said Winters.
From plumbers and electricians, to hardware stores and equipment rentals, to waste disposal and cleaning services, the Parkland's businesses have many ways they can help anyone affected by recent flooding. Having a directory of them in one place just makes sense.
Winters says to keep in mind though that our Parkland business community has been hit just as hard, and are dealing with a lot of their own damages and repair efforts.
"The answer is twofold, definitely support local, we want to provide all of these resources that are local to us and the Parkland area, but also give everybody grace, knowing that everybody is going to be so busy too...you're a plumber, you're an electrician, there's cleaning and restoration, like I'm thinking about M.C Kay YardWorks, Parkland Cleaners, all the electricians in the area, the plumbers, insurance services, contractors, landscaping, right? There's a lot that has to get done," said Winters.
The Parkland Chamber of Commerce's Flood Recovery Business Directory will soon be available on their website. If you're a local business providing services or products that can help with flood recovery, the Chamber asks you send them an email to be included in the directory.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
The DRHC will most likely be out of commission for a while. Without a working hospital in the region, lots of people in Dauphin and the surrounding area are understandably concerned.
Treena Slate, Prairie Mountain Health CEO, said they're still assessing lots of the damages.
"[We are] looking at assessing the damage that was done by not only the high volume of water that entered our basement and crawl spaces at the Dauphin Regional Health Centre, it was about 8 feet at it's worst, but also a large amount of silt that entered the building," said Slate.
One of the main causes of the closure was extensive damage to the hospital's HVAC and electrical systems, which were located in the basement. In the meantime, with the hospital closed, PMH has transferred all 54 patients that were at the DRHC to different healthcare facilities across the province.
"We did move the majority of patients to other sites in Prairie Mountain, but we also moved patients into Winnipeg, about 5 patients I believe were moved into Winnipeg, and some to Southern Health as well," said Slate.
While the DRHC remains closed for damage assessments and repairs, a temporary clinic has been set up in the Community Health Services building, attached to the hospital. Prairie Mountain Health has also greatly expanded the capabilities of the Ste. Rose Emergency Department using some DRHC personnel and resources.
"There is a room that we have occupied, that we have set up I believe 6 beds in total, where we have nursing staff on site able to do a quick assessment of anybody who arrives...we did establish resources and services in Ste. Rose, so we increased Ste. Rose Emergency Department to 24 by 7, which is a 50% increase from it's usual service, with the support of Dauphin physicians and nursing staff," said Slate.
Slate said she understands the concern from the community around not having close access to a healthcare facility as big as the DRHC. It's been here for a long time, so living without the hospital in our backyard will take some getting used to.
In the meantime, PMH is looking at a lot of ways they can help ease Dauphin's concerns, including greatly expanding the healthcare services PMH still has active in Dauphin, and speaking with provincial partners about solutions they can provide.
"We don't have our hospital temporarily, and so we are looking at, not only as a region but as a provincial system, around what can we do within Dauphin and the community, and so we are looking at what kind of diagnostic services like labs can we offer in the community, and we are also working to increase the community-based resources and services we have in Dauphin," said Slate.
When it comes to timelines for repairs and getting the DRHC back to normal, that will depend entirely on what their assessments find. Slate was unable to provide any estimate as to when the DRHC will reopen, because there are still a lot of unknowns. However, PMH does know what they need to look at in the immediate future, and will look to restore the basics, specifically an emergency room and diagnostic services, as soon as they can.
"If the analysis shows us that we're going to have excessive, lots of lead times to get equipment to replace what was damaged, or we can't repair what was damaged very quickly, what can we establish as a minimum...and then what can we add after that, we recognize that we want hemodialysis patients to be treated as close to home as possible, cancer care patients treated close to home as possible, all of our patients of course brought back close to home, and so it will be probably a phased approach as we go through this," said Slate.
Though the DRHC will likely be closed for a while, PMH is looking at all possible ways to expand healthcare in Dauphin, and already bolstering their capability in nearby areas. While the DRHC is closed, emergency services are available at the Ste. Rose Emergency Department 24/7, and the Grandview Medical Clinic, 7 days as week.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Have you been driving or walking around town and noticed vehicles with a CSG logo on the side?
The City of Dauphin launched its six-month Downtown Safety Pilot on Tuesday.
CSG is the Classify Security Group, which will conduct regular foot patrols throughout the downtown core, Vermillion Park, and the Dauphin Recreation Complex.
"This is another important step in our ongoing efforts to improve community safety and increase the visible presence in our downtown and other key spaces," said Lisa Gaudet, Deputy City Manager. "So we've heard concerns from downtown businesses, residents, visitors, and community organizations about public safety. That and the overall experience in some of our public spaces."
CSG staff will patrol during the daytime, afternoon, and evenings. The schedules may change based on what they see is happening in the community and where the need is.
"So this flexibility allows us to deploy resources where they have the greatest impact," added Gaudet.
The pilot is intended to respond to concerns of local businesses, residents, visitors, and community organizations.
There are four officers in town from CSG who will work in shifts conducting foot patrols and checking public spaces.
"They'll be assisting members of the public where appropriate," added Gaudet. "And helping connect individuals with community resources when needed. They will also contact the RCMP whenever police intervention is required."
The officers are intended to complement - not replace - the work of the RCMP and emergency services.
During the six-month pilot, the City of Dauphin will monitor patrol activity, gather feedback from businesses, residents, community partners, and law enforcement. They will evaluate the program's effectiveness in improving public safety and community confidence.
Council will then have information to determine the next steps.
"So whether that's to extend private security patrols or implement a community safety officer program," ended Gaudet. "I think that will be a task for the new council in October to grapple with and make those decisions based on the data we can accumulate through the pilot."
So if you see a CSG vehicle driving through town, you can have confidence knowing the City of Dauphin has listened to you and wants to make the community as safe as possible.
The pilot is supported through a $200,000 grant from the Government of Manitoba's Safer Neighbourhoods, Safer Downtowns Public Safety Strategy.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
In a special weather statement, Environment Canada says southern Saskatchewan and Southern Manitoba are expecting a long duration heat event, starting on Friday and extending into late next week. During the event, humidex values are expected to peak around 45.
Terri Lang, Meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada said when it comes to weather, this year has been far from normal. Recent severe flooding in the region will definitely contribute to the high humidex expected during this heat event.
"There's certainly contributions from all the standing water that is around, as well as the crops, when they're growing very quickly right now, give off a tremendous amount of moisture, and the air is also coming up from areas that are full of moisture as well, so that's what contributes to the humidity...every summer there's usually severe thunderstorms with everything, tornadoes, heavy rains and such, but this years is particularly active," said Lang.
Whenever there are heat events like this, Environment Canada always recommends keeping an eye out for heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and other serious medical concerns that can come from heat. Lang said especially with the inconsistency of hot temperatures this year, the prolonged high heat and humidity could be a shock to a lot of people.
"Seek shade, drink a lot of water, and for those that are really sensitive to the heat, avoid it as much as possible, and try and find cool places...we really haven't had a lot of heat so far this year, so I think people aren't yet acclimatized to it," said Lang.
Click here to view Environment Canada's fact sheet on safety during heat events.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
As the Parkland continues to recover from recent flooding, organizers of the Gilbert Plains/Grandview Ag Society Fair and Rodeo hope to be able to take their minds off of the flooding for a few days.
The annual event begins tonight (Thursday) with the first of four days of chuckwagon and chariot racing, a new wrinkle for this year according to Ag Society president Kevin Boese.
"Other years, we have just done three days, and before that we only did two days. So this year with the Homecoming events that are taking place, and all of the extra people that are in town, we figured we would bring in one more day of chuckwagon and chariot racing."
Boese adds the track at the fairgrounds is in great shape for this weekend.
"We did a little bit of work on the grounds earlier this week, and worked on the track, and it is looking wonderful. It might be as good as it has ever been, I think."
Other weekend highlights include the rodeo on Saturday and Sunday, a Friday afternoon parade, truck pulls, light horse shows, and a kids zone.
Weekend passes are $40 for adults, and $25 for youth aged 6-17.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
It's your chance to support local, eat fresh, and shop local.
It's Farmer's Market season, and Joyce Huska is ready to go. The Farmer's Market in Dauphin begins on Friday and runs every Friday until September 25.
Huska has been attending the local market as a vendor for nearly three decades.
"Oh, I anticipate it all the time," said Huska. "It's nice to see all of the customers from previous years. It's a chance to catch up with everybody."
The market is at the parking lot on 1st Avenue Southeast, across from the Dauphin Active Living Centre.
Huska herself sells homemade bread and buns using maple syrup. She also sells jellies, jams, pickles, and produce. It runs from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m., rain or shine.
This year, Joyce says there is a great assortment of things up for grabs. They include a homemade cosmetic vendor.
"We have a large produce vendor," ended Huska. "Another big table where a lady has an assortment of spices, and she does sewing as well."
Toss in some cinnamon buns, wild fruit, and crafts, and the Dauphin Farmer's Market has something for everyone. You're asked to bring your own bags.
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Prairie Mountain Health says the Dauphin Regional health Cenre, and its emergency department will remain closed for an extended period of time, as they continue to assess the damage caused by last week's flood.
They have already identified excessive damage to critical infrastructure, especially in the basement of the facility.
Insurance assessors and restoration teams are working as quickly as possible to complete a thorough damage assessments.
Once necessary repairs and remediation is completed, they say planning is underway to reestablish the emergency department and diagnostic services as a priority.
In the meantime, the Ste Rose Hospital emergency department is open 24/7, while the Grandview emergency department is also open seven days a week.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The Province of Manitoba, in partnership with Duracan and several municipalities, is offering subsidized well water testing for flood affected residents in the Parkland.
Dianne Guinto, Microbiology Manager for Duracan, said they have plenty of experience, not just with water, but lots of different kinds of testing, which makes them the perfect partner.
"We are an accredited lab, we specialize in an array of analysis for environmental samples, that includes soil, air, water obviously, as well as construction materials that could have asbestos in them..we offer private well subsidies that we have from the government, so we have been coordinating with different municipalities and districts on how they want to collect the drop off, as well as pick ups, and then submitting it to us for testing," said Guinto.
Water sampling bottles for the program are available for pickup at Manitoba Office of Drinking Water regional offices, including Dauphin and Minnedosa, as well as several rural municipality and watershed district offices, including Roblin, McCreary, Swan Valley West, and Inter-Mountain Watershed District, to name just a few.
The testing process itself is fairly simple. The incubation period is around a day, and once the lab has results from your water sample, they'll give you a call if there's anything to be concerned about. Guinto said because of the flooding, there are definitely higher-than-normal levels of contaminants in the samples they receive. Even if you can't tell if your well water is contaminated, the only way to be sure is getting it tested.
"Because of the flooding, we are seeing high presence of coliforms and E. coli in those well waters, that makes water unsafe for drinking...your water can have no indicators that is it contaminated, it can look, smell, or taste normal, but only testing can confirm that there's no disease-causing bacteria in your water, and it is safe to drink," said Guinto.
With the scale of the program, partnerships with municipalities and watershed districts are necessary to make sure it goes smoothly. The Swan Lake Watershed District is one of many watershed districts involved. Bill Gade, RM of Swan Valley West Reeve, said because of the number of residents using private well water systems, he strongly recommends that residents get their water tested, especially considering they were hit very hard by flooding.
"We have some areas in the municipality where the water has a little too much arsenic in it, you can't really use a well there, some areas don't have a lot of well water. There's about a half of the municipality that has good well water and can use it, so we have roughly half our residents are using well water," said Gade.
Within the RM of Dauphin, the RM's water system covers a good number of residents, but there are still a good number of well water users. Ernie Sirski, RM of Dauphin Reeve, said even if your well's immediate area wasn't flooded, it could still be contaminated because of seepage.
"The reality is if you're in a well water situation right now, the issue of overland flooding could have happened. Even just seepage, if you haven't had overland flooding, seepage into the well from water that's 50, 60, 100 feet away could affect the quality, so I would encourage everybody to get it tested," said Sirski.
For more information about where you can pick up well water testing kits, or details about how your local municipality or watershed district is handling samples, call their office.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
