An open house is planned for Portage la Prairie on Sept 18 at the PCU Centre to discuss the 2011 Manitoba Flood impact.

The event is organized by Manitoba 2011 flood review task force, as part of the Lake Manitoba-Lake St. Martin regulation review.

The task force is looking to find out who has been impacted by last year's flood and hopes to hear more about area residents’ concerns on the issue.

There will also be an opportunity to offer feedback on residents' issues related to the flood.

“It’s absolutely essential that we have (open house meetings) to give people an opportunity to express their opinions about what went right and what went wrong during the flood, and to give some suggestions for improvement,” said Portage la Prairie MLA Ian Wishart. “A similar thing was done following the 1997 flood affecting the Red River Valley. Some of the suggestions that came forward at those meetings are now the basis for the programs we are using that have helped reduce the risk in the Red River Valley. I am hoping we get those good positive kind of suggestions.

“If you have issues with compensation, it is a chance to be heard,” added the MLA.

In Portage the Sept. 18 open house will be held at the PCU Centre, Portage Rotary multi -purpose room, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

There will also be meetings in the following locations: St. Laurent at St. Laurent Recreation Centre on Sept. 11 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.; and Langruth on Sept. 19 at Langruth Community Hall, also from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

“I hope that everybody takes an opportunity to participate in (the open house meetings),” added Wishart.

For those who cannot attend these open houses, they can also participate by visiting: 2011manitobafloodreviewtaskforce.ca, or lakemanitobalakestmartinregultionreview.ca for more information.

These open house meetings are being conducted throughout Manitoba by an independent task force that has been appointed by the Province.

The role of the task force is to examine a variety of issues related to the historic 2011 flood, including: preparedness and response; flood forecasting; methods of communicating information to the public; as well as the operation of flood-control infrastructure.

The task force will later report back to the Province with its findings after it has completed its study.

“We want to learn as much as we can for how we can be better prepared next time,” said Jean-Marc Prevost, a spokesman with the Province.

angela.brown@sunmedia.ca