Residents in southern Manitoba are bracing for yet more flooding as the Souris River rises to the south, following a three-month flooding season that has become one of the worst on record.
Already in the U.S., the Souris has topped levels not seen in 130 years, forcing many in North Dakota to flee their homes.
In about two weeks, the surge of water will be flowing through Manitoba, and residents are scrambling to sandbag their homes ahead of the deluge.
The flooding season has stretched on 80 days longer than normal, and some of the worst may yet be coming.
With up to 30 millimetres of rain expected to hit the region in the coming days, the situation is dire for some properties.
Manitoba premier Greg Selinger told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel from Winnipeg Thursday that officials in his province are working closely with their counterparts south of the border to prepare for the coming crisis.
"There's no surprise coming, just a heck of a lot of water and dikes are going to have to be built up and fortified. It looks like it could be worse than the spring crest."
Meanwhile, officials in North Dakota are expecting the flood to reach record levels by Sunday.
On Wednesday, the looming flood forced as many as 10,000 residents from their homes as crews continued to build up dikes and levees in a final effort to protect at least some of Minot's neighbourhoods from the rising Souris.
"There are 300 people in shelters and the others have found places with family, friends, some rentals," Mayor Curt Zimbelman told The Canadian Press.
Some evacuees, like Aquira Fritt, are scrambling to find a place to stay.
"There are no hotel rooms, no campers to rent, nothing," she said Wednesday, shortly before emergency sirens signaled residents to evacuate.
"It's very stressful and it's very annoying," said the 23-year-old woman, who is seven-and-a-half months pregnant.
Fritt said she and her boyfriend are planning to spend the night in a van with her five-year-old son.
The shortage of available temporary housing is due largely to the state's oil boom which has taken off in the last two years. Each year, thousands of workers arrive in Minot, staying for months at a time.
Wendy Howe, the executive director of the Minot Convention & Visitors Bureau, told CP that Minot's 1,820 hotel and motel rooms averaged 80 per cent occupancy through May due to oil workers, business travellers and Canadian tourists.
Plans are now in place to construct "man camps" to house the workers.
Allan McGeough, the executive director of the Minot chapter of the Red Cross, told CP that more shelters could open after two, one at the city's auditorium and the other at Minot State University, were nearing capacity by Wednesday night.
Maj. Gen. David Sprynczyantyk, the North Dakota National Guard commander, said the National Guard is working with the federal government on a long-term housing plan for the evacuees.
Much of Thursday's effort was focused on protecting the city's infrastructure, including sewer and water service.
Zimbelman said the sewer and water situation was "under control" but being monitored.
In the coming days, the Souris River is expected to crest and surpass water levels recorded in 1969 when the Souris reached 474 metres above sea level.
It's expected the Souris will hit 476 metres.
"In two days' time, it will be a rapid, rapid rise," Gov. Jack Dalrymple said.
