The Manitoba flood to break dykes to the recording of the battle

WINNIPEG (Manitoba)  - Manitoba will take the drastic step of breaking its dykes on the Assiniboine River flooded in swamping a wide swath of farmland in the province of the Canadian Prairies and displacing hundreds more people to avoid the worst flooding.

Rupture of the dikes Wednesday at a location west of the provincial capital of Winnipeg will release a torrent of water of marshes 225 square kilometres of land, the provincial government said Monday.

Flood officials have said that the move is a controlled release of up to 6 000 cubic metres of water per second, they don't know step where exactly the water go where it flows through the flood plain.

"This is an unprecedented situation," said Minister Steve Ashton, Manitoba infrastructure and transportation.

Without a controlled release, rainfall abundant forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday in Saskatchewan and Manitoba could overwhelm temporary dikes and cause unexpected violation which may flood a much larger area, Ashton said.

An area of registration of Manitoba is already flooded by spring unwanted melting conditions, rain and saturated soil moist climate of the last year.

Failure of the dam will affect an estimated 150 homes and up to 2,000 people across the province can be away from home at the end of the week, the provincial government said.

Controlled release should not interfere with Winnipeg also.

ARMY HELP FIGHT FLOODS

Seven hundred soldiers were called to assist volunteers with put to raise levees and prevent water spill in several communities, including Brandon, the second largest city in the province.

About 900 families were evacuated from low-lying areas in Brandon, because of the threat of flooding.

"An unstable weather system should provide between 20 to 40 mm (0.8 to 1.6 in) of rain in most basins of southern Manitoba between now and Wednesday," the province said in a statement.

Some areas could see (2.8 inches) up to 70 mm of rain.

Manitoba struggled against flooding problems last month on the Red River, which flows North in the province, to the United States but rains have was not expected to increase its water levels, officials said.

The Red River and Assiniboine join Winnipeg, which was divert water around the city with a diversion channel specially constructed.

Troops help also to fight severe flooding on the Richelieu River in Quebec, South of Montreal. About 3,000 homes were submerged by the flood, but water continued to down Monday with a clear sky in the forecast.