MarketTwin Lakes Beach, Manitoba
Company Profile

Twin Lakes Beach, Manitoba

Twin Lakes Beach, also known locally by many as simply Twin Beaches, is a beach and community in the Canadian province of Manitoba. On Lake Manitoba, it is about 100 kilometres (62 mi) north-west of the provincial capital, Winnipeg. Twin Lakes Beach is in both the Rural Municipality of St. Laurent and the Rural Municipality of Woodlands, and it is in the town of St. Laurent.

Climate
Twin Lakes Beach experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with warm to hot summers and cold windy winters. The climate is also influenced by Lake Manitoba. Due to the fact that Twin Lakes Beach lies on its shores, the community experiences temperature moderation during the ice-free months of year, and thus has reduced diurnal temperature variation during these months, resulting in cooler high temperatures in the summer, but also warmer nighttime lows in the summer and fall compared to nearby locations. In the spring, when the ice has not yet melted, any wind off the lake can also depress temperatures compared to nearby locations. Comparison with relatively nearby weather stations located off of the lake such as Lundar, Manitoba to the north and Marquette, Manitoba to the southeast illustrates the moderation provided by Lake Manitoba. In the fall and early winter before freeze-up Twin Lakes Beach also experiences periodic lake-effect snow. Wind coming off the lake also tends to be stronger than nearby locations due to less resistance, and this can lead to extreme windchills and snow drifts in the winter. Data is from Oak Point located about to the north. Data is also provided from Delta Beach located about to the south-west. ==2011 Flooding==
2011 Flooding
As a result of a wet year Manitoba Water Stewardship forecasted the lake to reach a level of above sea level. However, the forecast was revised upwards numerous times due to precipitation and the extended use of the Portage Diversion to an eventual predicted peak as high as above sea level, well above the regulated range as well as the flood stage of above sea level, at the end of July. This was higher than 1955, prior to regulation, when the lake reached above sea level at Steep Rock. However, according to Government flood sheets, Lake Manitoba peaked at at the Westbourne gauge and at the less variable Steep Rock gauge respectively. The flooding led to serious problems to cottagers who had already tried to prevent erosion and property damage through such methods as retaining walls, natural vegetation, rocks and rock cages, and some even resorted to moving their cottages back. These problems were not just localized to Twin Lakes Beach and also occurred on many parts of the lake. According to the Government of Manitoba Water Stewardship department, many areas around Twin Lakes Beach are not even above above sea level according to forecasted lake inundation maps released. This led to major flooding in the area from the flooded Lake Francis from behind, as well as damage due to high winds, waves, and storms. A State of Emergency was declared in Woodlands and St. Laurent and cattle around the lake were evacuated. A sandbagging machine was assembled in St. Laurent and produced sandbags for use by cottagers and residents in both Woodlands and St. Laurent. Sandbags were also trucked in from the surplus stock from Winnipeg. On May 31 , strong winds from the northwest which reached at times over 100 km/h occurred on Lake Manitoba, causing waves as high as which resulted in major flooding at Twin Lakes Beach and the surrounding beaches such as Laurentia Beach and Sandpiper Beach, as well as other locations on the lake including Delta Beach and St. Ambroise. The strong wind caused water from the north basin of Lake Manitoba to transfer to the south basin causing lake to surge (seiche effect) from above sea level in the morning to an estimated level of above sea level, a rise of over . The result was overland flooding occurring on property and roads as well as damage to residences. Mandatory evacuations were ordered by the Rural Municipalities of Woodlands and St. Laurent to all cottagers and permanent residents on Twin Lakes Beach. Many cottages and homes were damaged and destroyed as a result of the storm. While the community remained under mandatory evacuation orders, structural experts were brought into the Twin Lakes Beach area to inspect every building on each property to assess the structural integrity of them and determine whether or not each building was structurally sound, and whether or not residents would be able to enter their homes and cottages. Buildings were rated on a scale of level of destruction from 1 to 4 with 4 being the worst, meaning that the building cannot be rehabilitated, cannot be entered, and must be demolished. In some of the more northern properties of Twin Lakes Beach, beginning on the weekend of June 11, including all of Twin Lakes Beach North and some of Twin Lakes Beach South, residents were allowed to return if they had vehicles that were high riding and were all wheel drive, but for most residences including all of the Woodlands part, residents and cottagers were not allowed entry. The Manitoba Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR) was deployed to Twin Lakes Beach beginning Friday June 17, 2011 to help residents and cottagers safely access their residences to retrieve important possessions by stabilizing damaged buildings. Flex-Track vehicles from Manitoba Hydro were brought into use as transportation on the flooded road. USAR was stationed out of St. Laurent. USAR had planned to stabilize many of the damaged residences, but the damage was too extensive along the beach and left after a few weeks. As much of the main roads on both the north and south parts of Twin Lakes Beach were under water, residents were also escorted to their residences using a pontoon boat, as well as a barge brought in from the Canadian Coast Guard. The construction of the entire sections of Twin Beach Road North and South in both Woodlands and St. Laurent was completed on August 24 to a level no lower than above sea level. Beginning in early September with construction running into October, TITANTubes (sometimes referred to as geotubes or geotextile tubes) manufactured by Flint Industries(USA) were installed along most of the shoreline of the section of the beach in the Rural Municipality of Woodlands. Woodlands was given a $2 million grant from the province of Manitoba to complete the wave breaker trial project. The geotextile tubes were built to a level of above sea level to provide protection against waves and storm surges often seen on the lake. Geotextile tubes were also installed on parts of Delta Beach as well as nearby Sandpiper Beach. The goal was to have completed of Geotextile tubes, but only were installed around the lake. This includes the installed along Twin Lakes Beach. Also in the fall, demolition crews were brought in to demolish those residences in Woodlands that were classified as Level 4 as a result of the May 31 and subsequent storms. In total there were approximately 25 residences demolished in the RM of Woodlands. However, some residents who were fortunate to have little or no damage from the flooding were conditionally allowed to return to their residences on a permanent basis after meeting a defined criteria from their respective municipality beginning in late October or early November. On November 1, 2011, the $100 million, Lake St. Martin Emergency channel was opened to help lower the high flood waters on Lake St. Martin by flowing at rates as high as . This in turn, allows the Fairford Dam to stay open at full capacity all winter rather than have reduced outflows from Lake Manitoba, which normally happens in the late fall as some of the gates are normally closed on Fairford. The channel allows this as it reduces the risk of frazil ice buildup on most of the Dauphin River and after the extended reach extension of the Emergency Channel is completed, the risk of ice jams along the entire Dauphin River will be reduced. With favourable conditions, the channel would help bring the chance of Lake Manitoba staying below the flood stage of the lake of above sea level up to 90%, but this is still higher than the desired level for Twin Lakes Beach of above sea level. == Notable residents ==
Notable residents
Craig Millar, former NHL player ==References==
tickerdossier.comtickerdossier.substack.com