Lake Winnipeg storm rips apart seawall protecting Gimli-area residential neighbourhood

The powerful storm that moved across southern Manitoba earlier this week destroyed part of a seawall that protects a residential area near Gimli from high water on Lake Winnipeg.

Entire sections of the wooden seawall on the lakefront side of Willow Island were ripped apart by wave action on Tuesday, when strong north winds drove the water level in Lake Winnipeg's southern basin up by roughly two feet.

"It was brutal. There was so much waves and wind," said Carol McDonell, who was home alone on Willow Island when the storm whipped up heavy waves. They took down several lakefront trees on the property and scraped away more than a metre of shoreline that was not protected by a seawall.

McDonell said she also saw an entire deck from another home float past after waves unmoored it from the shore of Willow Island, which juts into Lake Winnipeg southeast of Gimli.

"I was trying to keep my dog calm. I was trying to not panic, and I was sitting here watching it. Never again," she said.

Prior to the storm, Lake Winnipeg was sitting at 715.6 feet above sea level, which is above the top of its recommended operating range.

The lake is swollen due to heavy inflows from both the Winnipeg River, which is experiencing its largest flood on record, and the Red River, which crested at its sixth-highest volume since record keeping began.

Lake Winnipeg now sits at 715.8 feet above sea level and is expected to continue rising until mid-July, when Manitoba Hydro projects it will crest at 716.8 feet.

That's very close to the lake's crest in 2011, when a one-in-300-year flood on the Assiniboine River led to heavy inflows into Lake Winnipeg.

Whenever Lake Winnipeg gets above 715 feet, Manitoba Hydro is required to drain as much water as possible out of the lake through the Jenpeg operating station and into the Nelson River.

Hydro spokesperson Bruce Owen said the outflow at Jenpeg Thursday was 120,000 cubic feet per second, the maximum possible discharge at the station.

Lake Winnipeg is still rising, however, because the combined inflows from all the rivers flowing into it continue to be high. The Winnipeg River in particular is flowing at three and a half times its normal volume.

The Winnipeg River, in turn, is flowing high because of heavy inflows from its largest tributary, the English River, and Lake of the Woods, which is experiencing its largest flood since 1950.

In a forecast issued Wednesday, the Lake of the Woods Control Board projected the lake will rise another four or five inches over the next week. That will bring the lake within about a foot of its record peak of 1,064 feet above sea level, recorded in July 1950.

Already, hundreds of docks, boathouses and other structures along the lake have been damaged or submerged. The City of Kenora issued an evacuation order Thursday for people who live along two low-lying streets.

Based on control board data, Manitoba Hydro projects the Winnipeg River will crest in Whiteshell Provincial Park — where it widens into Nutimik, Dorothy, Margaret, Eleanor and Sylvia lakes  — on June 6 or June 7, Owen said.

WATCH | Repairs after Manitoba flooding will take years, province says:

Storm damage takes a toll in Manitoba

3 years ago

Duration 2:26

The repair bill for fixing flood and storm damage in Manitoba is already in the tens of millions of dollars. The province says it has to repair or replace more than two thousand roads, bridges and culverts.

Hydro does not have a precise projection for the Lake Winnipeg crest. That will depend on rain in the coming weeks, he said.

Nonetheless, at least another two months of high water is expected on Lake Winnipeg, raising the prospect of more shoreline damage when winds whip up again.

Sarah Thiele, Manitoba's deputy minister responsible for infrastructure, said Thursday the province is assessing the protection in place for lakefront communities and will consider "tactical, short-term protection" if another major storm is imminent.

The storm that damaged Willow Island earlier this week turned out to be far less violent than predicted, she said, adding there were concerns the lake could have seen a record wind-induced water level.

The most violent storm on Lake Winnipeg in recent memory took place in October 2010, when a very deep low pressure system known as a weather bomb brought cyclone-like winds to Manitoba.