Des photos récemment numérisées montrent les mesures prises pour faire face à l’inondation de 1950

This year marks 75 years since one of the worst floods in Winnipeg’s history

Girl Guides taking calls at Red Cross Flood Relief Headquarters in the Civic Auditorium during the 1950 flood.
Girl Guides taking calls at Red Cross Flood Relief Headquarters in the Civic Auditorium during the 1950 flood.

At the time, it was the largest evacuation in Canadian history. Around 100,000 Winnipeg residents were evacuated during the flood of 1950.

To mark 75 years since that devastating flood, the City of Winnipeg Archives has digitized nearly 200 photos. The images are a glimpse of the massive relief effort that took place when the Red River spilled its banks.

Some of the photos were from inside the Winnipeg Auditorium. It served as Red Cross’ temporary headquarters and evacuation centre. Others show people wading through flood water. One features supplies arriving from Britain.

The floor of the Civic Auditorium converted to a shelter for those evacuated during the 1950 flood, part of Red Cross Flood Relief Headquarters.
Designated beds for dike workers at Red Cross Flood Relief Headquarters in the Civic Auditorium during the 1950 flood.
Red Cross distributing beverages to dike workers during the 1950 flood.
A Red Cross worker feeds a cat in a flooded area of St. Vital during the 1950 flood.
Two men paddle a boat down a heavily flooded St. Mary's Road near River Road during the 1950 flood.
Relief workers attempt to remove a submerged fence caught in the propeller of a Muskrat amphibious vehicle during the 1950 flood.
Red Cross Control at Flood Relief Headquarters in the Civic Auditorium during the 1950 flood.
Workers use heavy machinery to build a dike near the subway on south Main Street, just north of the Norwood Bridge, during the 1950 flood.
A plane of flood relief supplies arrive from the United Kingdom, 2 June 1950.

“Given the flood's anniversary, it was important for us to make these records easily available,” said Jarad Buckwold, Digital Archivist with our Archives and Records Control Branch.

We've digitized the records to make them more accessible for people who may not be able to physically visit our archives.

The photos were taken by David Portigal. They are from a group of negatives the City of Winnipeg Archives had received.

They’ve been added to the Archives’ River City: Records of Flooding in Winnipeg digital exhibit in the Resources and Archival Research section. The exhibit looks at archival records of significant flood events in our city’s history.

If you’re interested in seeing more photos from the city’s past, our Winnipeg in Focus website is a great resource. It’s a searchable database of our archival collections.

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