Wild storm leaves parts of Manitoba under water, communities doing clean-up
Posted June 10, 2026 10:52 am.
Last Updated June 10, 2026 8:12 pm.
Residents in a Manitoba town famous for its limestone were kept busy mopping up and pumping out Wednesday after overnight torrential rains flooded basements and swamped its cemetery and the signature Quarry Park.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this before in Stonewall. This is an unprecedented amount of rain,” said Mayor Sandra Smith, who noted they last experienced overland flooding in 2010.
“We’ll just pray that we have sunny skies here for the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Stonewall, just north of Winnipeg, was one of a number of municipalities put in cleanup mode after an overnight cloudburst delivered sheets of water, tennis ball-size hail and unconfirmed reports of tornadoes.
In Stonewall on Wednesday, streets were drying as drivers navigated shallow pools of water that left one car stranded.
On some streets, hoses poked out of houses, pumping water as owners hauled out swollen, squishy blankets, clothes and even a wayward mattress.
Environment Canada said the area was hit with 255 millimetres of rain — a level about as high as a wine bottle if you don’t count the neck.
Smith said it’s unclear how many homes have been affected. She encouraged residents to limit unnecessary water use.
Parts of Winnipeg were also walloped. The Forks downtown tourist site registered 124 millimetres of rain.
The city said it received about 850 emergency calls overnight, with some relating to downed power lines, fires and stranded vehicles.
Mayor Scott Gillingham thanked crews and residents for working together to restore services and help out neighbours.
“This was a difficult night for many Winnipeggers, and I’m grateful to the dedicated city staff who were in the field and on the phones helping keep people safe,” he said in a statement.
Hundreds of power outages were reported across the province.
Manitoba Hydro called the weather event one of the worst summer storms in recent memory.
Several hours of high winds, heavy rain and lightning caused extensive damage to power lines, poles and equipment, resulting in about 1,000 outages across a wide area of southern Manitoba, the Crown corporation said in a release.
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 25,000 customers were without power, including approximately 17,000 in Winnipeg.
“Due to the scale and widespread nature of damage, customers should prepare for extended outages, including overnight and into Thursday. In rural areas, flooding and highway closures may delay response,” said Hydro spokesman Peter Chura.
The hail came in degrees of damage. Winnipeg and surrounding communities saw tennis ball-size hail. Other parts of southern Manitoba saw golf ball, quarter and dime-size hail.
Meteorologist Brian Proctor, with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said parts of the province could see some more showers and thunderstorms this week but not as intense.
Proctor said there was no way to protect against such a deluge.
“Horrific amounts of rain is probably the best way to put it. It’s going to overwhelm any and all infrastructure completely,” Proctor said.
“Nothing is built to take those kind of rainfall amounts in that short duration.”
The rains having been playing havoc elsewhere in Manitoba for days.
The Town of Swan River, 480 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg near the Saskatchewan boundary, declared a state of emergency this week as floods burst riverbanks swamping some homes and businesses.
