Evacuation order rises to 5 homes as floodwaters rise near St. Jean Baptiste, Man.

More families are being forced from their homesnear St. Jean Baptiste, Man., as rising floodwater advances in the area.

So far, five houses have been ordered evacuatedin the Rural Municipality of Montcalm,says Jean Barnabe, emergency co-ordinator for the municipality.

The municipality declared a state of emergency as water from Red and Roseau rivers is about to cover Provincial Road 246, east of St. Jean Baptiste, about 70 kilometres south of Winnipeg.

Shortly after noon Tuesday, Barnabe said, the municipality was considering one more house for evacuation. A total of 15 people have been forced out so far.

"People are getting ready to move out as we speak," he said. "We're definitely going to be losing [road] 246 sometime this afternoon, probably, or this evening at the latest."

Two families in the areaweretold to evacuate their homes over the weekend. At thattime, Barnabe said eight other families could soonlose road access to their properties.

The families are able toaccess assistance for accommodations and other needs because the evacuation was mandatory, he added.

The municipality had previously built up temporary berms alongside road 246 to buy some time before floodwater reaches it. Without it, Barnabe guessed the water would have already covered the road by Tuesday morning.

"The way it's going to come over, it's going to wash out the roads. It won't just be water on the roads it'll be washed out," he said. "And that will have to be fixed once the water comes down."

Some residents stay, will use boats

Even though a mandatory evacuation order is in place in Montcalm, several residents CBC spoke to said they aren't leaving.

Don Touchetteis taking the flood in stride."Not worried," he said standing near Provincial Roads 217 and 246, which were being closed as water rose Tuesday afternoon.

"I got more than one pump rigged up in the house and so on. I've been through the floods before and I got levels, I got a power generator, you name it I can pump it out," the 87-year-old said with a laugh.

He plans to use a boat he has waiting inside his shopto get to town once roads are washed out.

"I've been through storms with it and everything else and it's not going to flip."

Barnabe is expecting the water to crest in his area around Friday or Saturday.

A spokesperson for the province said the crest of the Red River is expected to arrive at Emerson and Letellieron Wednesday or Thursday, and inMorris betweenFriday and Sunday.

"At this time, the Red River is anticipated to peak below 2011 magnitude levels," he wrote in an email.

"In the north, the Saskatchewan and Carrot rivers are flowing.Most ice has dissipated."

The spokesperson said the Emergency Measures Act states municipalities can allow individuals to remain in an area under a mandatory evacuation order if the municipality has a plan for safely evacuating those individuals in a timely manner and has the means available to carry it out.