Mass Evacuation Of Winnipeg Suburb As Flood Waters Rise

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27387, 12 May 1950, Page 5

Mass Evacuation Of Winnipeg Suburb As Flood Waters Rise

New Zealand Press Association—Copyright 9.20 p.m. OTTAWA, May 10. _ The greatest mass evacuation in Canada’s history gained momentum tonight as the surging Red River smashed through another dyke protecting a low-lying suburb of Winnipeg. Nobody was hurt, but residents were ordered to leave the area* Hundreds of women and children streaming out of the city placed a severe strain on the transport services.

New York messages state that 17 persons are dead and housands are homeless as a result of the floods, which are sweeping over North Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Scores of communities were isolated as surging water from rain-swollen rivers spilled out'over thousands of acres of land. All the fatalities were in Nebraska, and most of them were highway travellers caught on the roads by rampaging waters which swept all before them. Five Were killed when a bus carrying eight persons was washed from a highway. Three passengers survived by hanging on to trees. One woman was rescued after nine hours in the* water clinging to floating branches. Many of the dead were found miles from where the water hit them. More than 10,000 residents of St. Vital, south of Winnipeg, have been ordered to evacuate their homes by F/iday. More than 15,000 others already have fled from their homes in Southern Manitoba as the Red River and other streams spilled out over some 200 square miles. At Winnipeg the river’s level was 28ft lOin—the highest since 1832. Most of Winnipeg lies about sft above the river's present level, and the western area, with three-fifths of the population, is on even higher ground. Brigadier R. E. Morton, flood relief controller in Winnipeg, said the congestion caused in the flood-free sections of the city by the billeting of residents from the flooded suburbs was unsatisfactory from the health point of view. Brigadier Morton, who declined to predict how much more the Red River would rise, said the battle against the flood might be a matter of weeks. Two electric power stations were the key points in the battle against the flood waters in Winnipeg toc’ay. They were diminishing islands in a sea of swirling waters.