{"id":617894,"date":"2026-04-21T02:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T02:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/617894\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T02:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T02:52:08","slug":"parts-of-manitoba-ontario-declare-states-of-emergency-as-spring-floods-threaten-across-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/617894\/","title":{"rendered":"Parts of Manitoba, Ontario declare states of emergency as spring floods threaten across country"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A gas technician makes his way through the floodwaters at Rue Saint-Louis in Gatineau, Que., on Monday. Gatineau’s emergency officials say 41 roads are closed and 164 homes at risk due to rising water.Justin Tang\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Spring flooding has hit multiple communities across the country with more expected to follow, while states of emergency have been declared in parts of Manitoba and Ontario where residents may be forced to evacuate. <\/p>\n

Peguis First Nation and Fisher River Cree Nation in Manitoba have said that flooding is anticipated in the coming days with water reaching levels not seen since 2022, when 1,000 people had to flee and 700 homes were destroyed in the area. <\/p>\n

Fisher River Chief David Crate said his community has shielded about 75 per cent of its homes from flooding. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working basically around the clock to make sure the community is protected,\u201d Mr. Crate said.<\/p>\n

He said two of the local health units are working to move high-risk elders with medical conditions, but the community will not see a large-scale evacuation. Mr. Crate said leaders are still determining where the elders will be moved. <\/p>\n

Rising waters endanger Gatineau homes as spring flood concerns grow in Quebec, Ontario<\/a><\/p>\n

Peguis First Nation Chief Stan Bird said in an online update that temperatures this week would determine the severity of the flooding. He said the community\u2019s evacuation plan is in the final stages of development, and he urged residents to remain calm to avoid \u201cchaos and pandemonium.\u201d <\/p>\n

Over the past two weeks, the provincial and federal governments as well as volunteers have helped the community place sandbags, dikes and inflatable barriers to protect homes from water damage.<\/p>\n

Mr. Crate said he thinks the flooding this year will prompt other levels of government to implement needed infrastructure for flood prevention in the region. <\/p>\n

Fisher River Cree Nation and Peguis First Nation, located about 180 kilometres north of Winnipeg, are at a high risk of flooding because of their location along the Fisher River on low-lying land. <\/p>\n

Mr. Crate said both communities have previously discussed long-term mitigation plans with the provincial and federal governments but they haven\u2019t gone anywhere. <\/p>\n

He said he spoke with Premier Wab Kinew Monday morning about creating retention ponds south of Peguis First Nation that would lower river levels during the spring runoff. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time that the investments are made in the communities to have these long-term solutions,\u201d Mr. Crate said. <\/p>\n

In Ontario, the Township of Minden Hills, located on the bank of Gull Lake 220 kilometres northeast of Toronto, declared a state of emergency last week. An evacuation site is open at the local community centre for people forced to leave their homes, the township said in an online update.<\/p>\n

Two downtown bridges over the Gull River have closed and the community has filled more than 25,000 sandbags, it said.<\/p>\n

Nipissing, about 300 kilometres north of Toronto, also declared a state of emergency on Sunday. The township is located on the south side of the Nipissing River and rising waters have caused the closing of multiple roads.<\/p>\n

Runoff from recent rain and melt flowing into Lake Nipissing has caused the water to rise rapidly, according to a flood bulletin from the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority. <\/p>\n

The bulletin said flooding across northeastern Ontario has been accelerated by heavy rainfall and melting snow. Precipitation in the region has been 200 per cent higher than what is normally seen in April.<\/p>\n

Over in Quebec, the Outaouais and Rivieres des Prairies around Montreal are expected to breach their banks within the coming days. Inflatable barriers, dikes and pumps are being used to mitigate damage in the north and west ends of the city. Officials said they\u2019re preparing for water levels similar to flooding seen in 2017 and 2019.<\/p>\n

In Gatineau, across the Ottawa River from Ottawa, emergency officials said 41 roads are closed and 164 homes are at risk because of the rising water. The city is located on the north bank of the river, which was forecast to rise by approximately 30 centimetres early this week.<\/p>\n

With reports from The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A gas technician makes his way through the floodwaters at Rue Saint-Louis in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-617894","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-ca","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-news","39":"tag-northwest-territories","40":"tag-nova-scotia","41":"tag-nunavut","42":"tag-ontario","43":"tag-pei","44":"tag-photos","45":"tag-political-news","46":"tag-political-opinion","47":"tag-politics","48":"tag-politics-news","49":"tag-quebec","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-technology","52":"tag-travel","53":"tag-trudeau","54":"tag-us-news","55":"tag-world-news","56":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}