St. Andrews residents not worried about high water levels and upcoming rain

When Bill Atkins woke up Saturday morning, his snowmobile was sitting high and dry. One hour later, it was partly under water — like many residents in the St. Andrews and St. Clements area.

While overland flooding is normal along the Red River, Atkins says it hasn’t been this bad in a long time.

“This is the fourth year in all my years here that the water has actually got into our yards,” he said.

Atkins has lived on his yard along Breezy Point Road his whole life, and says he is not concerned about current water levels or prediction of heavy rain.

Joy Sul echoes his optimism, saying the chances of flooding are going down by the hour as ice jams make their way to Nettley Lake. The mayor of the R.M. of St. Andrews says the residents she speaks for, aren’t too worried.

“They’re very used to this sort of thing in spring, and so far, it’s a very low risk to homes.”

The only thing Sul says could ruin the progress is snow and rain.

The province announced they are following a large system expected to bring up to 20 to 80 centimeters of rain and snow in southern Manitoba.

Atkins says even with a big rain, he’s just worried about his next year’s snowmobile season.