CBC Lite Sections News • Canada • Manitoba Chief says Peguis residents could be evacuated as soon as this weekend, as Manitoba premier visits community Lauren Scott | CBC News | Posted: April 16, 2026 4:05 PM | Last Updated: 19 hours ago First Nation could see water levels similar to 2022 flood, which forced evacuations and damaged homes Image | Mba Flood 20260416 Caption: Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew tosses a sandbag onto a trailer in Peguis First Nation on Thursday as community members work to protect homes and other buildings from an anticipated flood. (John Woods/The Canadian Press) (BUTTON) Load image Open image in new tab Peguis First Nation Chief Stan Bird says residents could be evacuated "as soon as this weekend," as the Interlake community braces for severe spring flooding that could reach devastating levels. "Because of what's happened in the past and the chaos that comes with the floodwaters, we want a more orderly evacuation. We want to put our people up in an organized and coherent fashion," he said, referring to recent floods that forced residents to evacuate. Officials are working to identify where members of the community, located about 160 kilometres north of Winnipeg, will be sent, Bird said. "We want to avoid the chaos. We want to avoid the trauma that happens to the children when this occurs every year," he said during a media scrum alongside provincial officials Thursday. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew visited Peguis with a delegation that included Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor and Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures Minister Ian Bushie. The premier said staff with the province's Hydrologic Forecast Centre believe a late-season storm hitting parts of the province will cause the Fisher River to overflow next week. Earlier this week, a provincial flood bulletin warned there is a high risk of flooding in the Fisher River basin as warming temperatures could cause snow to melt rapidly. Image | Marilyn Spence Caption: Peguis resident Marilyn Spence says she's been living with mould for years after her home was damaged by severe flooding. (Santiago Arias Orozco/CBC) (BUTTON) Load image Open image in new tab Runoff from the Fisher could start next Monday or Tuesday, with peak flows anticipated between April 23 and April 28, the bulletin said. Peak flows are expected to reach levels similar to the 2014 flood, which displaced more than 100 people in Peguis. They could rise to levels similar to the 2022 flood — about 60 centimetres higher than the 2014 flood — if the melt happens faster, the bulletin said. That means "it's a race against time" to get more than 200 homes protected in the coming days, Kinew said. He said about 500 people were working to protect Peguis homes Thursday, including residents, contractors, provincial staff members and volunteers from non-profit group Team Rubicon. The premier said they hope to have enough sandbags and dikes in place by Sunday or Monday. WATCH | Peguis First Nation prepares for evacuations: Media Video | Caption: Runoff from the spring melt could trigger overland flooding in Peguis over the coming days as crews continue to build dikes and other barriers to protect homes. Chief Stan Bird says some residents might need to leave the Interlake community as soon as this weekend. Open full embed in new tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. "It's clear that the community is rallying together, and so the whole province wants to support that effort and protect homes and protect the people here," Kinew said. "It really is a race to try and protect the homes in this community." Lifelong Peguis resident Marilyn Spence, 71, says her home experienced flooding in 2014 and 2022. Her family was displaced during the 2022 flood, and some of her loved ones have yet to return home. The water left damage in its wake. "When we flooded … everything was mouldy downstairs. It all comes up to the walls, and everything's soggy under the window sills, behind our beds. And it's still like that today," Spence said. Image | Mba Flood 20260416 Caption: Runoff from the Fisher River could start Monday or Tuesday. (John Woods/The Canadian Press) (BUTTON) Load image Open image in new tab She said she's "scared" of how severe the anticipated flood could be this year and the damage it might cause. Spence's home did not have any sandbags protecting it when CBC News spoke to her Thursday. "There's nothing we could do about it — just sandbag and hope we don't get flooded that bad," she said. Bird, who has previously called for a permanent solution to stop flooding in the community, said talks with federal officials have been "positive" and that the First Nation has strong partnerships with both the federal and provincial governments. * Peguis residents, volunteers ramp up efforts ahead of yet another potentially devastating flood * Peguis First Nation could be 'running out of time' before severe spring flooding: chief He said there's much more work to be done on a permanent solution, but shovels could hit the ground "as early as this summer." Kinew said the province also plans to be involved in bringing a long-term flood-prevention solution to the First Nation. "We'll be there. We would love the feds to be there as well. We know Peguis is ready. So, we'll work together," he said. More Stories Like This The related links below are generated automatically based on the story you’ve just read. Loading... CBC Lite is a low-bandwidth website. 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