The Municipality of Rhineland declared a state of local emergency last week as a result of the May 14-15 severe windstorm event that caused widespread and significant impacts throughout the municipality, particularly within agricultural areas.
The declaration formally clears the way for the municipality to be eligible for some provincial government funding support and allows the municipality to undertake emergency response measures that were not identified in the 2026 municipal budget.
“It’s very unusual,” said Reeve Don Wiebe of the storm’s impact. He said he had never seen anything quite like it in his 20 years with the RM, adding this is quite different from some years when you perhaps get severe flooding or drought. “Some people were saying it’s never been as bad as this, so it’s very unusual.”
Extremely high winds lifted large volumes of topsoil, field debris, and crop residue which were subsequently deposited into municipal ditches, roadways, and drainage infrastructure.
The municipality’s public works department identified over 130 locations requiring remediation. Those sites vary significantly in length, depth, and severity.
While the northern portion of the municipality experienced the most substantial impacts, with considerable accumulations of soil and debris within multiple municipal drains and ditches, the effects of the wind storm were felt across the entire municipality.
In addition to impacts on drainage infrastructure, the accumulation of blown dirt created hazardous conditions on numerous municipal roadways. Although some impacts were not immediately apparent following the storm, subsequent precipitation revealed the extent of the damage. In several instances, the combination of soil and moisture had rendered roads difficult or nearly impassable.
“We were totally surprised,” said Wiebe. “When the staff, after the wind storm, did an assessment, toured the municipality and saw the amount of debris in the ditches … there were some places where it was two feet deep and maybe even three feet. We have to do something because we are 96 per cent arable land, and drainage is critical.”
And he also noted how it had a ripple affect.
“Then the rain came and some of our roads were really slippery because the gravel mixed with the dirt made some spots almost impassable … so this dirt has an interesting impact on roads as well.”
Wiebe noted they have already hired a number of private contractors to help out with the cleanup and repairs.
“We hoped to be finished by the end of this week.”
The municipality will continue to assess affected areas and undertake remediation efforts as resources allow. Municipal staff were working to address priority areas to restore safe access, maintain drainage, and minimize further infrastructure impacts.
Residents are encouraged to use caution when travelling on municipal roads and to avoid areas where remediation is underway.
Rhineland isn’t the only local RM to declare a state of local emergency due to the wind storm—the RM of Montcalm did the same May 20 as they, too, worked to deal with the damage it left behind.
