Premier Heather Stefanson and Doyle Piwniuk, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure were in the Pembina Valley Region Tuesday and Wednesday, touring areas hard hit by the flooding.

On Wednesday, Stefanson was joined by Cameron Friesen, MLA for Morden-Winkler, to see Highway 32 at Winkler's south end, Parkhill Drive and Alvey Street in Morden as well other places in the area.

Stefanson said it was important for her to see the damage for herself.

"We have to assess the damage. I wanted to be here myself, along with our Ministers, to see what the extent of the damage is so that we know what needs to take place moving forward. We're very committed to ensuring these infrastructures not just get back to where it was before, but making sure it's there for the long term, as well as the durability is there."

Friesen said the area was hard hit, and noted the Manitoba Government has made changes to the way disasters are handled to be able to make things better, not just to restore things to their previous state.

"The damage here in Morden is very significant, a huge community effort to be able to keep the damage from being worse. A huge shout out to the city of Morden, Municipality (of Stanley), and the City of Winkler for their work to be able to save property, and now we will be there as a government to be able to help Manitoba rebuild."

MLA for Morden Winkler Cameron Friesen viewing the Alvey St bridge damage with Premier Heather Stefanson

Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Doyle Piwniuk said, over the years, they have learned a lot, and are committed to assessing and continuing to invest in flood mitigation projects.

"We were looking at all the assessments across the province. Right now, we have 24 municipalities that have declared a local state of emergency, and we'll be assessing all these communities including the City of Winnipeg, and even our infrastructure from the Province of Manitoba. Right now, we know it's above the $4.63 million, and we'll definitely work with, and be in talks with the Federal Minister Bill Blair to make sure that we're going to be working with the program, which is called DFAA (Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements), and we're going to continue this."

Stefanson expressed her gratitude for the efforts to minimize the damage done to communities and made a commitment.

"I just want to thank the City of Morden, and everyone here, all the emergency measures team, and those from the city who have helped out through these very difficult times for the community, and our message to the community is that, 'We're here for you."