Winnipeg shores up defenses as flood crest nears
Winnipeg, Manitoba (AP)
Thousands of soldiers and emergency workers shored up Winnipeg's flood defenses Wednesday, preparing for the worst even as hopes rose that the Red River's crest will be lower than anticipated.

A huge floodway built in the mid-1960s to divert water around the city to the east is expected to save most of Winnipeg from the region's worst flood of the century.

In addition, a 25-mile temporary dike was constructed in a hurry southwest of Winnipeg to prevent the floodwaters from making an end run into the city.

And more than 7,000 soldiers have been moved in to the region to combat the flood - the Canadian military's biggest deployment since the Korean War.

Though optimistic the dike will hold, authorities put 3,000 families living along the banks of the Red River, meaning they will have to leave within 24 hours if the dike is breached.

The fear is if there are breaks in the temporary dike, the water will flow into a river the dumps into the Red River downstream from the city's floodway system.

"Our approach is and always had been to prepare for the worst and hope for the best," said Mayor Susan Thompson. She said it would take the floodwaters about 40 hours to reach homes if the dike failed.

The crest of the river is now expected to reach the city Thursday, and Thompson said it is not expected to be much higher than 24 feet. She said the crest level could last for several days.

Earlier, the level had been projected at about 25 feet.

"We have built our dikes to cope with 26.5 feet," Thompson said. "We remain confident this will provide a comfort margin of safety."

The city has laid 4.5 million sandbags, and estimates 1 million more are needed.

On Tuesday, the flood inundated Ste. Agathe, a mostly evacuated town 15 miles south of Winnipeg. It was the first Canadian community washed out by the flood that has already devastated cities in Minnesota and North Dakota.

So far, about 25,000 Canadians have been forced from their homes in the Winnipeg area and in farming towns to the south.

Permanent dikes around seven of those towns have thus far withstood the flood, turning the communities into islands in a vast lake that is nearly 20 miles wide at some points.

The main focus of concern Wednesday was the 25-mile dike erected over the past week southwest of Winnipeg. Military crews covered long stretches of it with plastic sheeting and orange-mesh fencing.