Manitoba flooding prompts disaster aid activation

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew toured flooded communities in the western part of the province Thursday, promising support as residents face major cleanup after heavy rains over the weekend.

The Swan Valley area, including the towns of Swan River and Swan Valley West, was hit hardest. Communities of Minitonas, Virden, and Russell also sustained damage, with hundreds left without power. Both Minitonas and Swan River declared states of local emergency.

Kinew said his government will activate the disaster financial assistance program alongside the municipalities and, if needed, step in with additional provincial help. "In a disaster like this, money is never an issue," he said. "Whatever resource is necessary will be provided."

For areas like Minitonas, which saw extraordinary damage, the province will also roll out Emergency Social Services to help with immediate food, work loss, and other pressing needs.

Transportation and infrastructure officials were on site near Tamarack Creek, where some floodwaters originated, to determine how much water could be pumped out or redirected. The north-south highway in Swan River had to be cut to relieve water pressure.

Kinew said he witnessed significant community spirit — neighbours feeding neighbours, people cleaning out homes together. But the scale of damage is substantial. Volunteers have been sandbagging homes and buildings, and the cleanup will take months.

The federal government is working with the province through the disaster financial assistance program, marking a coordinated response to what Kinew described as "extraordinary" damage.