'Pretty powerful' ice pileups damage more than a dozen Lake Manitoba cottages

Some residents along Lake Manitoba's southern shore are dealing with what they call an unusual problem this spring, as large buildups of lake ice washing up on the shore have caused costly damage to multiple homes and cottages.

Spring is breaking up the lake's ice, and winds have been pushing chunks of it toward the shore, causing it to pile up near homes and cottages on Delta Beach, says Jonnette Kitson, who has lived in the area for almost two decades.

Kitson said she heard "eerie sounds" outside her home around 3 a.m. Monday, and realized it was the sound of lake ice crashing into her property.

"Never seen anything like it before. None of the other old-timers have ever seen anything like it, so, very weird," she told CBC News on Friday.

The ice is "pretty powerful" and moved part of a rock wall near her home, she said.

Kitson notified her insurance company, but says reimbursement isn't guaranteed. She described the damage to her home as mild compared to others in the area.

"It seems like there's just an area of 15 or 20 cottages that got hit hard," she said. "The rest of the beaches have ice piles, but [they're] just on the shore."

Roy Tufford, reeve of the rural municipality of Portage la Prairie — which includes Delta Beach, says it's unusual to see ice wash up on that part of the lake.

"I know it's happened along other stretches of Lake Manitoba, but not generally at this end because this is really, really shallow here, for the most part," he told CBC News.

Tufford has been in touch with the province to see what can be done to help property owners with the repairs, and he says a community impact assessment will be done to determine whether homeowners will be eligible for disaster financial assistance.

The community has accessed the provincial program before when it was hit with flooding, Tufford said.

"If it's a pretty small event, it's probably not going to be the case, but hopefully we can get some help for these people," he said. "The indication that we're getting at our office is that the people here will not have insurance coverage."

Kitson says all people can do is wait until the ice melts away and reveals the full extent of the damage.

"Hopefully for me, it's just my railings and stairs [that's damaged], but part of the deck could be gone too."