Health officials have suspended emergency and acute care service at Souris Hospital as the flood fight intensifies across southwestern Manitoba.

A 38-member tactical team is in Souris to help with flood-proofing as more than 85 homes have been evacuated in preparation for a wave of water arriving from North Dakota.

Five sites in the town have been identified as priorities to protect, including the water and sewer treatment plants. Officials hope to have floodproofing complete in Souris by Saturday.

Further downstream in the town of Wawanesa people are still packing.

About 35 people from 14 homes in Wawanesa were given until 6 p.m. Tuesday to leave their homes. As well, a precautionary evacuation of the Wawanesa Health Centre, involving 24 long-term care residents, is being co-ordinated by the Assiniboine Regional Health Authority.

Those residents will be staying in other facilities within the health region until the flood risk passes.

Crews stack sandbags alongside the Souris River in the town of Souris. Bert Savard/CBC

The evacuations are a precautionary measure, so crews can build up the town's dike without traffic in the area, said Souris Mayor Darryl Jackson, noting that in some areas, the dike needs to be as high as three metres (10 feet).

Several communities located along the winding river are in the same spot as crews scramble to build higher dikes before the crest arrives between July 5-9.

Just days ago, the river swamped parts of Saskatchewan and then 4,000 homes to the south, in Minot, N.D.

The latest flooding in Manitoba will mark the third time the Souris River has crested this year, the first being in April then again in mid-June.

'This is unparalleled, historic flooding.'—Steve Ashton, emergency measures minister

"It's stressful, you know, there's no doubt about that. We're into the 11th week of battling and we started sandbagging, I believe, on the 10th of April and here we are on the 27th of June, or 28th, whatever it is today, still at it," said Jackson.

"We had little breathers in between but Good Friday was the spring crest and we had another crest on June 15th and now we're bracing for another one next week."

Steve Ashton, the provincial minister responsible for emergency measures, said residents in Manitoba are used to spring flooding in April and May, but not into July.

"This is unparalleled, historic flooding," he said.

The peacocks that usually spend the summer in Victoria Park in Souris are now wandering the town's streets, chased out by flooding. Bert Savard/CBC

"A river like the Souris, which at this time of year has been variously described as a pretty quiet, sleepy river, it has now become a major source of flooding and a major challenge for us."

He lauded the people in the Souris River valley who have been dealing with the high waters since there was still snow on the ground.

"You know this is not round one, this is not round two, this is round three. This is something that they have been living with and watching very closely over the last number of months," Ashton said.

Wawanesa Mayor Bruce Gullett said he was initially skeptical when he heard the Souris River could rise by another two metres by next week. But he has watched it rise quickly in the past few days.

"When you look across the riverbank here and see the high water marks that are now posted — possible high water marks — it's astounding. They're above your head when you're walking on the street," he said. Souris's deputy fire chief Chris Couling said he has never seen anything like this, and hopes he never does again.

'It's been unbelievable what's been going on.'—Chris Couling, Souris deputy fire chief

He and his family had to be evacuated from their home on Plum Creek, a tributary of the Souris. While he can't even think about a summer vacation for himself, he hopes to salvage some kind of a summer for his children.

"We're going to make do. Being on ground zero from day one with all this stuff … it's been unbelievable what's been going on. We could be so much worse is how I keep looking at it."

The revised crests and water volume down the Souris will eventually run into the Assiniboine River and Lake Manitoba, which has been battered by high water this year. Winds have caused vicious waves on the lake to rip into cottages and homes and wash far inland, flooding many residences.

Provincial flood officials have said the impact from this flood season could extend into the winter — and then again next spring.

Nearly 2,800 Manitobans remain out of their homes due to flooding in the province.