A state of emergency was declared Thursday for parts of Winnipeg as a precaution against the rising Red River.
City officials said the declaration affected about 240 homes on the river-side of the primary dike that protects the Manitoba capital.
Brad Salyn, spokesman for Mayor Sam Katz, said the move wasn't meant to incite panic.
"There is a state of emergency signed, not for panic, but more or less just to inform property owners and let everybody know to be in a state of readiness," he said.
"Basically what it does is gives government additional powers to ensure that the flood protection orders are being carried out. It doesn't mean that the Winnipeg population is in dire straits or in imminent risk."
A state of emergency gives the city more power to fight flood waters and allows officials to respond quickly if evacuations are needed or they have to gain access to properties, Salyn said.
Winnipeg is the latest Manitoba municipality to declare a state of emergency. A number of municipalities both south and north of the city made similar declarations some weeks ago in anticipation of flooding.
The province has also partially closed ring dikes surrounding about 12 towns in the Red River Valley. The small community of Riverside is completely closed off.
South of Winnipeg, the Rural Municipality of Ritchot placed 150 homes under a voluntary evacuation order Thursday after water washed out driveways and roads. About 40 residents of a nursing home in St. Adolphe also had to be moved to Winnipeg as a precaution.
"Some people feel very uncomfortable living in the middle of a sea of water," said Ritchot Mayor Bob Stefaniuk. "It creates problems for elderly people, people that have medical conditions and young families."
Evacuees were offered hotel rooms in Winnipeg.
Further south, near the town of Morris, Melvin Edel was settling in for a second week cut off from the outside world. Edel has been using a small boat to get around his 1,400-hectare farm since it was swamped by the Red River, which is normally six kilometres away.
"We've got three deep freezers full of food. Food and clothing. We've got lots. No problem there," Edel, 67, said over the phone.
"It's nerve-racking. It's a lot of stress because I've got cattle about a mile across this lake here and I haven't been there for two days now."
Edel and his wife have been passing the time cleaning their home, which is well above the water line, and enjoying their hobbies.
"I collect hockey cards. I collect toy tractors. I got videos. I got movies ... we don't get bored."
Flood levels in Manitoba this spring have been among the highest on record. What began as a "flood of inconvenience" has turned much more serious and is testing the strength of the province's flood-proofing measures.
Forecasters now say the province is in for "several more weeks" of high water, washed-out roads and fields that look like massive lakes. Temperatures have climbed into the double digits, hastening the snow melt and sending more water into the Red River and its tributaries.
There is also a lot of water still pouring in from North Dakota.
The river is expected to peak in Winnipeg and Morris on the weekend.
