Rising water from an ice jammed Red River forced at least six families from their homes near the communities of Lockport and St. Andrews Wednesday.
Massive shards of ice bottled-necked the river Wednesday morning, and by the afternoon water was rapidly washing over roads and filling yards.
Residents who have lived in the area for more than three decades tell CTV News they have never seen a flooding situation that is so desperate.
The province says using the amphibex, a sort of floating backhoe, to break-up the ice jams is too dangerous. Instead crews will work with conventional backhoes.
More evacuations are expected Wednesday evening and Thursday.
Some residents are still trying to sandbag their homes, but the weather is not helping. Sub-zero temperatures are freezing the sandbags making them difficult to use.
To make matters worse Between 15 and 20 cm of new snow is expected to fall in the area between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. About 15 cm fell earlier this week.
Meanwhile in the south of the province the cool temperatures have been a mixed blessing. The freeze has slowed overland flooding caused by snow melt and ground thaw.
Still residents are having trouble preparing for the inevitable flooding that will follow warming temperatures. They are also having trouble making dykes because their sandbags are freezing.
With reports from CTV's Stacey Ashley and Caroline Barghout.
