Tuesday night, the Carman-Dufferin Fire Department were trained on how to use Tiger Dam Flood Control Systems.

"The Tiger Dams can be used as flood protection for areas where you have a very long stretch that you need to block the water. So for example, it would be on the top of dikes for additional support, or along the road edge to stop the water potentially from flowing over a road into a residence's property," says Director of Public Safety and Fire Chief, Ben Vanderzwaag.

The dams are filled with water, are about 18 inches high, and when connected together they can cover a span of approximately 1,500 feet.

Vanderzwaag says there are hundreds of hours that can go into filling, transporting, and placing sandbags, but Tiger Dams are significantly more efficient.

"Set up time for a 1,500 foot area would take approximately an hour to an hour and a half . . . it's just a fraction of the time."

He adds, "the Tiger Dams are owned by the province of Manitoba, and they're offered for flood mitigation to all the municipalities in the province."

The only requirement municipalities need to use them is a team of people in the community trained on set-up and takedown, as well as how and where they can be used.

"We've had the fire department trained so that in the case of a high water level event or flood water event, that we could call the province and use the Tiger Dams to prevent some flood mitigation," he says.

Vanderzwaag adds that they have never had to use them in a flood situation before, but decided to undergo training as an extra level of flood protection.