Steinbach recently faced an unprecedented storm, receiving two months’ worth of rain in a single night – a rare event that typically occurs once a century. Despite moving into a new facility over two years ago, the local animal shelter has had to evacuate its animals every September due to flooding. Approximately 200 residents in the southeastern Manitoba city are awaiting news on potential financial aid from the provincial disaster relief fund to assist with the consecutive floods.
In 2024, a storm brought 156 millimeters of rain over September 16-17. This year, the rainfall was even more severe, with 103 millimeters falling in just four hours on September 11-12, totaling 135 millimeters by the time it ceased. Volunteers at Steinbach and Area Animal Rescue had to relocate 22 animals to temporary homes for a month to facilitate cleanup and power restoration post-flooding.
The volunteer organization has incurred $50,000 in overland flooding deductibles over two years, with ongoing repair work still pending completion. During this year’s heavy rain, the shelter experienced significant water intrusion, causing damage to supplies and leaving the basement submerged.
City manager Troy Warkentin mentioned that several other areas, including La Broquerie and Niverville, were also severely affected by the intense storm. Despite the consecutive years of substantial flooding, the provincial disaster assistance for uninsured costs is yet to be approved for approximately 200 affected individuals in Steinbach.
Efforts are underway to enhance the city’s infrastructure to better cope with such extreme weather events in the future. Planned upgrades include twinning the force main to expedite water evacuation, improving drainage systems, and considering lift station expansion. However, these enhancements may not entirely safeguard the city from the intensity of storms like those witnessed in the past two Septembers.