Manitobans deal with aftermath of storms

More people from storm-battered Delta Beach, Man.,will head back on Friday to see what's left of their homes and cottages.

Larry Rushton was able to get in by boat a day earlier to see his cottage in the community, on the south shore in Lake Manitoba.

He can't believe thedestruction. His cottage has water inside but fared far better than his neighbour's cottage, which was split in half fromraging waves.

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And he said many peopleare giving up hope.

"They're physically exhausted and mentally exhausted from all the work and the preparation [prior to the storm] and all this happens. It's just a breaking point for a lot of people. There's a lot of distressed people," Rushton said.

The storm hitTuesday, damaging numerous properties in the Rural Municipality of St. Laurent Twin Lakes Beach, Laurentian Beach, Delta Beach, Sandpiper Beach, Pioneer Resort, and Johnson Beach.

That area is about 70 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

Powerful winds whipped acrossswollen Lake Manitoba, which is at record-high levels,creating large waves that pounded the shore and washed inland.

'It's a disaster unparalleled. It hasn't been seen in this magnitude anywhere in the province of Manitoba.' St. Laurent Reeve Earl Zotter

The water was chest-deep in places severalmetres from the shoreline. Although many people had built up sandbag dikes, the water easily overtopped them or knocked them down.

Rushton wants to see provincial and federal officials at Delta Beach to assess the damage and advise them whether they can protect their property or rebuild after the lake goes down.

"It's a disaster unparalleled.It hasn't been seen in this magnitude anywhere in the province of Manitoba," saidSt. Laurent Reeve Earl Zotter.

While some residents are being allowed back to pick up valuables, many cannot get back. A number of roads are impassable and power lines are down.

Angry at government

Hundreds of people who live and farm in the region have expressed anger at the provincial government for creating the perilous situation on the lake.

Floodwaters from the Assiniboine River have been channeled through thePortage Diversion for months. The 29-kilometre long channel takes the water from an entry point just west of Portage la Prairie and empties it into Lake Manitoba.

Diverting the Assiniboine helps minimize flooding where the Assiniboine joins the Red River downstreamin Winnipeg.

Officials pressed the diversions operation into overdrive in May when the extremely high and fast Assiniboine was putting pressure on protective dikes in several communities.

Built to handle a typical water flow rate of 25,000 cubic feet per second, with a top rate of 40,000 cfs, the channel was reinforced and built up during the flooding last month to handle52,000 cfs.

As a result, the water levels onLake Mabitoba are artificially high and not expected to peak until mid-June. They will also stay high for most of the summer,meaninganother wind storm couldcause more havoc, Zotter said.

Hailstorm damage

Meanwhile, a hail storm that hammered parts of southern Manitoba could add up to millions of dollars in payouts by Manitoba Public Insurance.

Spokesman Brian Smiley said numerous vehicles were damaged throughout the southwest part of the province.

"The stones were very big. The damage was significant," Smiley said.

"I saw personally pictures of one vehicle with the rear window smashed out and the front window nearly smashed out so it tells me that the severity of the stones was large."

It may take days beforeeveryone who suffered damage files a report with MPI. Then the extent of the storm's destruction will be better known.

"If history tells us anything, it's that a large number of vehicles damaged can result in millions of dollars of payouts. Hopefully, we're crossing our fingers that isn't the case in this situation," Smiley said.