Refugees fleeing from US to Canada may face new hurdle - melting snow

Asylum seekers crossing in the dead of night into Canada from the United States may face a new danger in coming weeks, as heavy snowpack melts in the flood-prone U.S. northern plains and province of Manitoba.

The western Canadian province on Monday said the Red River, which runs from North Dakota and Minnesota north into Canada, poses a major flood risk this spring.

Floodwaters that spread over land will make fields hard to navigate in the dark, said Bill Spanjer, emergency coordinator for the Rural Municipality of Emerson-Franklin, Manitoba, where 143 people have crossed illegally since Jan. 1, according to police, after