Should flood victims be forced to leave their homes

[dimpy.handa]

should people who live in areas that are soon to surely flood be removed from their homes, by force if necessary, in order to avoid having to send rescuers in to save them later at a risk to themselves and a cost to the community?

Or should those who choose to stay behind be advised that no efforts will be made to rescue them later should conditions worsen? Will others in the community, including rescuers, be able to resist the urge to attempt rescue anyway?

Is society obligated to save people from their own poor choices? Can our society justify ignoring those in peril even when it's due to their own foolishness?

 

[pranavdash]

People will not want to leave their only home in a "do or die situation" However, the folks that took the job of saving lives, have their job to do. Society, our society, has nothing to do with it.

 

[shivibhanot]

ast week, the town of Melita, in the southwest corner of the province, figured it was almost ready for the Souris River to flood.

"We thought we were getting pretty close, but then they bumped the forecast up another half a foot," Mayor Bob Walker said Monday.

Now the town of 1,100 is adding a second line of defence with its dikes to prepare for the Souris River cresting there sometime between July 5-7.

"I have to be confident," Walker said. "We've got the manpower. Lots of people are working."

Downstream in Napinka, Hartney, Souris and Wawanesa, it's the same as property owners and 24 residents in Wawanesa personal care home pack up and leave.

Ashton said because of the coming deluge, caused by intense rain storms and the late melting of a thick snowpack in the Rockies, even more water will be diverted into the already swollen Lake Manitoba via the Portage Diversion. The crest of Lake Manitoba has been revised upwards to between 817.7 and 817.81 around July 24-26, depending on rainfall. The earlier crest forecast was 817.1.

Ashton also said the province is looking at what it can do to lower water levels on Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin to reduce the threat of wave damage to cottages and homes and from ice when the lakes break up next spring.

"This forecast is not good news," Ashton said. "A break in the weather would be nice right now, but we're not counting on it."

Upstream in Saskatchewan, water isn't the only thing getting into homes.