The Municipality of Montcalm continues to brace for the arrival of the Red River crest, expected next week.

"The overland flooding is always ongoing. There's more flooded roads every day it seems," said Reeve Paul Gilmore. "We encourage residents and anyone else to stay away from those roads because you don't know what's under there."

As of Wednesday morning, 72 residents had been evacuated from their homes in the municipality, and Gilmore expects that number will increase as the crest nears.

The Red River is expected to peak in St. Jean May 9-12 at around 2009/2011 levels of 782.1-783.4 feet. That's about five feet below the dike height at St. Jean and Letellier, which Gilmore hopes will help alleviate some fears of whether the communities will be closed off. Currently, the dike at the north end of St. Jean has been closed.

"I think we're pretty well ready now," said Gilmore. "The main thing is the overland flooding and looking after the evacuations. The pumping continues in the communities, that's been ongoing since the beginning."

Looking ahead to the weekend, Gilmore is optimistic now that the severity of the expected Colorado Low has been downgraded.

"We've got beautiful weather for the week, so there are so rosy points."

Meantime, Gilmore isn't happy about the south dike closure at Morris, north of the municipality.

He says the move affects more than just the trucking industry.

"We use Morris for a lot of things, and there are many (residents) that work there," explained Gilmore. "For the people that work there, it's a big issue. (The detour) increases your daily commute."

"We felt that maybe they could have waited until the water levels were near," he added. "In the past, they've made a little ramp and we thought that could have been a solution."

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