Wind whips up swollen Lake Manitoba

Flood-weary property owners on Lake Manitoba werepreparing forwaves brought by high winds, as residents of the soggy southwest corner of the province braced for a major storm threatening more unwanted rain.

Sandbagging has been going on for weeks in the Rural Muncipalities of Siglunes and Grahamdale in the Interlake region between the two big lakes of Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg.

Massivevolumes of water have flowed into Lake Manitoba so far this year, bringing the swollen lake to levels unseen in more than 50 years.

On Sunday, residents near the lake worried that winds gusting to 45 km/h would overwhelm their flood protection in the next couple of days. A wind warning for the lake was issued by Environment Canada.

'Buckle down, guys, it's coming again.' Nyla Klatt, RM of Grahamdale

Nyla Klatt, the emergency co-ordinator for the Rural Municipality of Grahamdale, said it seemsworkers can't build dikes high enough, and the area could use help from the public.

"We need volunteers,"she said.

Klattsaid she's warning residents to prepare for the worst.

"Buckle down, guys, it's coming again. Be prepared, get ready for it. You can't fight nature. When the winds come up, you've just got todo the best you can with what you have."

For devastated areas such as Delta and Twin Lakes Beaches, property owners were allowed to see the flooded area for the first time since a mass evacuation of the area nearly two weeks ago.

Much of the area is still under water.

Many property owners were devastated by what they found.

'Our cottage is gone. We might as well scrap the whole thing.' Laurie Oliver

Laurie Oliver's cottageat Twin Lakes Beach on Lake Manitobawas ruined in the flood. She said her family is heartbroken.

"It's shocking. We didnt expect it to be this bad. Our cottage is gone. We might as well scrap the whole thing. It's frustrating because we have no control over anything the water, the government, everything."

Meanwhile, there's another rainstorm in the forecast for much of southern Manitoba.

Several homes have been evacuated in the town of Souris as officials fear the Assiniboine River could rise to record levels again as a system packing up to 30 mm of rain Sunday night and Monday develops.

Flood officials said that as a result of the forecast storm, flows into the Portage Reservoir could reach between 50,000 and 52,000 cubic feet per second. To manage flows, the Portage Diversion flood control structure is expected to run over capacity as it diverts up to 34,000 cfs from the Assinibione River and carries water into already-bloated Lake Manitoba.