Ice jam blocks Red River north of Winnipeg

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, April 11 (UPI) -- The Red River, free of ice from the U.S. border to Winnipeg, dropped Saturday in the city thanks to its flood gates.

An ice jam in Selkirk about 30 miles downriver caused flooding in areas north of Winnipeg, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said.

The floodway around Winnipeg was opened this week, which sent the ice down the river, angering residents whose homes were threatened. Bruce Hacault of Breezy Point had a 3-foot-thick sheet of ice outside his back door, trapped above the jam at Selkirk Bridge.

"They are going to be houses lost here if they don't close that floodway and drop this water level," he told the CBC. "I'm telling you, there's no more games."

In Winnipeg, the Red was at 19 feet Saturday afternoon and expected to drop further, the Winnipeg Free Press said. The flood crest is still several days away.

Steve Ashton, the Manitoba emergency services minister, who gave the order to open the flood gates, said it prevented a "worst-case scenario" Friday.

"We were potentially in range of breaching some of the City of Winnipeg's protective dikes," said Ashton.