The East St. Paul Emergency Preparedness Committee is providing the following for your information:

The amount of snowfall and precipitation this past winter and this spring, is unprecedented. Municipal infrastructures are designed to handle normal everyday operations with the additional capability of dealing with increased pressures due to routine storms and weather events. Although we have confidence in our systems, these continuous unprecedented weather events are stressing (or taxing) the infrastructures.

Currently, the biggest issue we are facing, is Municipal wide overland flooding. Of note, the Province of Manitoba issued an overland flood advisory for a large area of southern Manitoba including the City of Winnipeg and surrounding municipalities.

All Municipal staff, including members of the East St. Paul Fire Department, have been called in to deal with the ongoing issues within the Municipality, and are working to the best of their ability.

Additional sandbags are being filled. Residents needing sandbags are asked to go to the building located directly behind the fire hall at 2127 Camsell Avenue. Sandbags are only to be used to protect your primary residence and not secondary structures such as sheds etc.

The lift stations within the Municipality are currently working as designed. However, due to the amount of precipitation that has fallen, capacity is being tested.

Portable pumps, along with a fire department pumper, have been deployed to the Eagle Creek area between ponds four to six to help move some of the accumulated water.

The Municipal emergency line is operational, and residents requiring assistance are asked to call 204-594-4414 and leave a message. Despite the high volume of calls that the emergency line is experiencing, there are currently three Municipal employees that are dedicated to returning messages. All messages will be responded to in the order they are received. We ask you for your patience. Calls will be responded to as quickly as possible.

There are a couple of roads that are currently closed within the Municipality.  Residents are asked to avoid these areas and drive with caution.  Closures include:

• Sections of Pritchard Farm Road
• Sections of Old Orchard Drive

Barricades have been set up to prevent vehicles from entering the affected areas.  In addition to barricades, large volume hoses are being used to pump water.  Residents are asked to not drive around or move barricades.  They have been placed there for your safety, and the safety of the Municipal employees.

The latest weather forecast indicates the storm is abating and water levels are starting to drop throughout the area. Residents are asked to be cautious due to icy roads and sidewalks. Residents are also asked to avoid any unnecessary travel within the Municipality.

Information will be updated to all residents as this event progresses.