Parts of southern Manitoba are underwater after the combination of rain, warm weather and melting snow caused major flooding on Monday.

"We had the rain Thursday and early Friday and it seemed to quicken the melt and it's turned out to be flat flooding," Archie Hunter, the Reeve of Rural Municipal (RM) Franklin, Manitoba told CTV.

So far, the unexpected flooding has washed away 32 roads in RM Franklin.

Construction crews are still trying to make the roads just passable.

"There was nothing, then in half a day everything started bursting through," grader operator Don Budey told CTV.

However, the forecast of more rain this week threatens to stop their progress.

"You can't work in water, if you can stop it, it's not bad, but you've got to wait for it to slow down," Budey said.

Water from the RM Franklin area eventually drains to the Roseau River, the Roseau in turn drains to the Red River – which is where the real concern lies.

The Red River south of the border is expected to rise six metres above the flood stage. Because of this, students in Fargo, North Dakota have been excused from class in order to help with the sandbagging.

The excessive flooding in the United States is expected to impact southern Manitoba as well.

"Even that south of the border will affect us when it comes down the Red," Hunter said.

Manitoba flood forecaster Alf Warkentin predicts that Dominion City, which is 20 kilometres north the U.S. border, will be a problem area.

Warkentin said that he has been watching the Red River carefully and expects mild to moderate flooding.

With files from CTV's Kevin Armstrong.