ManitobaSome Steinbach residents got their first look at the damage caused by an overnight rainstorm Friday morning, as the southern Manitoba city mulls provincial aid.Southern Manitoba city says it’s looking into provincial aid in the aftermath of stormArturo Chang · CBC News · Posted: Sep 12, 2025 9:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours agoLaVerna Moreland paddles her kayak on a flooded street in Steinbach, Man., Friday in the aftermath of a storm that left some southern Manitoba communities underwater. (Radio-Canada)LaVerna Moreland goes on a Timmies run every Friday to buy an Iced Capp for her daughter, who is disabled. She said it’s motivation to have good days, as the Steinbach, Man., family gears up for the weekend.So when Friday came this week, she hopped into her kayak.”I got a call at 7 a.m. from our home care saying that she couldn’t get in because the driveway is flooded,” Moreland said from her boat, Iced Capp in hand.She said she’s taking the situation with some good humour because she doesn’t have a choice.”Our basement apparently is flooded and it keeps getting higher because it’s got nowhere to go,” she said.A torrential rainstorm poured over southern Manitoba Thursday night, leaving some communities underwater.WATCH | Communities flooded after heavy rainfall overnight:Southern Manitoba communities flooded after overnight rainStreets, basements and businesses were flooded in Steinbach, Man., after the city was hit by as much as 135 millimetres of rain overnight, according to Environment Canada. Graham Pollock, the vice-president of Steinbach and Area Animal Rescue, discusses how the flooding has impacted his organization and the animals in it. By the time it stopped, the city about 40 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg had gotten 135 mm of rain. Streets, businesses and residences across the community were submerged. Some Steinbach residents got their first look at the damage Friday morning.”We’ve just been bucketing water out and sump pumps and whatever we can do, really,” said Hayden Parsons. His basement, which had been recently renovated, was flooded.”This is a pretty big kick in the teeth to finally finish a great project. We can finally enjoy the basement and sure enough yeah, she floods again.”Hayden Parsons’s basement after the storm. The Steinbach resident says his basement was similarly flooded last year, during what an Environment Canada meteorologist described as a weather event you’d expect to see once every century or so. (Submitted by Hayden Parsons)Parsons and other Steinbach residents were in a similar situation last year, when the city received 156 mm of rain during a 36-hour period.At the time, an Environment Canada meteorologist told CBC News the event was something you’d expect to see once every 120 years or so.LISTEN | Are flash floods becoming more common in southern Manitoba?:Up To SpeedAre flash floods the new normal in Southern Manitoba?Steinbach was hit with record downpours overnight totaling two months’ worth of rain in the span of four hours, This is the second consecutive year that the southern Manitoban city faces overland flooding. CBC’s Faith Fundal asked flooding expert, Slobodan Simonovic whether these weather events could be our new normal. Western University professor emeritus Slobodan Simonovic, who specializes in climate change, said Manitobans should expect weather events like this to happen more often as the planet warms.”It’s relatively straightforward if you look at the physics,” he said during an interview with Up to Speed. “The warmer the air and the warmer it is, it is causing situations where the atmosphere stores more moisture and then that moisture comes back … in a short duration of very high intensity thunderstorms.”Simonovic said southern Manitoba’s heavy clay soil makes the region extremely fertile, but also very poorly drained and more prone to flooding.The professor, who lived in the province for several years, said he would like to see better early warning systems for flash floods as well as improved infrastructure for drainage systems and sewers so they’re better equipped to handle peak flows.City exploring potential provincial aidThe City of Steinbach said drainage channels, creeks and ditches were either at or over capacity during the storm, with its gravity sewer system fully functioning at capacity during and after.In a news release Friday, the city asked residents whose properties were damaged by the rainfall to file a damage report form online as it investigates whether this event qualifies for provincial disaster financial assistance.Residents were also asked to follow the steps outlined by the province for individual claimants, including taking pictures of the damage and keeping records of any repairs.Peter Toews said he hasn’t fully assessed the damage, but that it “will be a lot.””Carpet all needs replacing and then our belongings,” he said. “It’s a pain. It’s a real pain.”Steinbach residents clean up after downpour, flooding Streets, basements and businesses were flooded after a torrential rainstorm hammered the southern Manitoba city of Steinbach on Thursday night.With files from Gavin Axelrod, Radio-Canada’s Catherine Moreau and Up to Speed
Steinbach homeowners begin cleanup after community floods overnight
