2011 Red River flood
| Date | April 2011– June 2011 |
|---|---|
| Location | North Dakota, Minnesota, Manitoba |
| Deaths | 4[1][2] |
| Property damage | Unknown |
| Part of a series on the |
| Red River of the North |
|---|
 |
| Major Floods |
| Geology |
| Infrastructure |
| Related Topics |
The 2011 Red River flood took place along the Red River of the North in Manitoba in Canada and North Dakota and Minnesota in the United States beginning in April 2011. The flood was, in part, due to high moisture levels in the soil from the previous year which meant that further accumulation would threaten the flood prone region. Flood predictors were worried of a dual crest of both the Assiniboine River and the Red striking Winnipeg at the same time.[3] Beginning around April 8, 50 homes were evacuated and two more were flooded after an ice jam in St. Andrews pushed the river to burst its banks.[4] Three fatalities were blamed on the flood by 8 April all in the US. One was a man who died while sandbagging in Fargo-Moorhead, while the other two were men who drowned in the Maple River when their boat capsized while hunting beavers.[1] A fourth man died in Niverville, Manitoba on 9 April when his vehicle skidded off a flooded road and submerged.[2] The Red River through most of Southern Manitoba was below major floods of the past including 1979 and 1950, but when the river crested at the James Avenue pumping station north of the confluence of the Red River and the Assiniboine River, the measured open water crest was 19.59 above datum, which if the flood controls put in place along the Red and Assiniboine Rivers were not present would have amounted to the sixth highest water levels ever recorded in Winnipeg only lower than 1861, 2009, 1997, 1852, and 1826.[5][6] The increased crest at the James Avenue pumping station was largely due to the flooding Assiniboine River.
Assiniboine Flood
While the crest in Fargo was well below the record level set in 2009, water marks on the Assiniboine in Brandon, Manitoba reached their highest ever recorded level.[7] Though flood levels were below that of 2009 on the Red River, the 2011 Assiniboine River Flood was a 1 in 300 year flood.
References
- 1 2 "Flood blamed for deaths of 2 North Dakota hunters". Winnipeg Free Press. 8 April 2011.
- 1 2 "61-year-old man drowns in flood waters". Winnipeg Free Press. 9 April 2011.
- ↑ "Dual flood crests could hit Winnipeg". CBC News. 8 April 2011.
- ↑ "Fifty homes evacuated in RM of St. Andrews". Winnipeg Free Press. 9 April 2011.
- ↑ "The Red River reached an open water crest in Winnipeg at James Avenue yesterday at 19.59 feet". Manitoba Floods. 6 May 2011.
- ↑ "An Overview of 2009 Spring Flooding in Manitoba" (PDF). Province of Manitoba. August 2009.
- ↑ "Assiniboine at 2nd-highest recorded level". Winnipeg Free Press. 2 May 2011.
External links
Coordinates: 48°54′N 97°12′W / 48.9°N 97.2°W