REGINA — The number of southeastern Saskatchewan communities under a state of emergency has risen to 36, the provincial government said today in a province-wide conference call.
In a day that seemed to get progressively worse, the Carnduff RCMP released an advisory Sunday evening that the town of Gainsborough was placed under a mandatory evacuation order. Residents can seek shelter at the Carievale school, Carnduff school and Carnduff Legion where food will be available.
The Mounties advise that Highway 18 east of Gainsborough to the Manitoba border is closed and Highway 18 west toward Carievale is becoming washed out.
Highway 1 was also closed in both directions on Sunday evening due to flooding in the Wolseley vicinity. Westbound traffic is detoured south on Highway 9 at Whitewood to Highway 13 at Stoughton. Eastbound traffic headed for destinations east of Wolseley is detoured on Highway 10 near Balgonie to Highway 16 at Yorkton.
Police block access to a flooded underpass near Mosaic Stadium after on Sunday, June 29, 2014 in Regina. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards
Before travelling, motorists should check the Highway Hotline because of the number of traffic restrictions and road closures due to flooding.
“We haven’t had any reports of any life-threatening issues, however there have been significant areas impacted and some areas are reporting a large number of homes that have been impacted by overland flooding and sewer backups,” Duane McKay, commissioner of emergency management and fire safety for the province, told media Sunday afternoon.
Two rapid response teams, each with four members, will be based in Regina, along with a large cache of equipment. The teams will deploy to flood areas to train people to use equipment such as pumps, sandbag machines and water barriers.
“We have set up our emergency operations centre and we are having regular conference calls in terms of making sure that provincial government resources from all Crowns, ministries and agencies are available to respond and are responding in a coordinated fashion,” McKay said.
The ditches overflow with rain water near a car dealership in Melville, Saskatchewan on Sunday, June 29, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards
Some of the most devastated areas were around Moosomin, Esterhazy and Redvers where rain gauges showed between 175 and 200 millimetres, or about eight inches of rain, said Rob Paola, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
Water damaged a temporary structure that was erected at Bellegarde while work was being done on a bridge there. Consequently, the access road to the hamlet was closed.
“We’re working with them and the Ministry of Highways to ensure that whatever resources they require will be available,” McKay said. “Social Services is on standby in the event that we need to move people beyond the capacity of the municipalities.”
He did not know how many people were impacted by the flooding, but said it would be significant.
The relentless rain caused a significant rise in lake and reservoir levels, particularly Round Lake which is about half a meter higher than the usual summer level, said John Fahlman with the Water Security Agency.
“People can expect another half meter rise on Round Lake and less so on Crooked (Lake), but it is still significant,” Fahlman said.
Flood waters closed about eight highways in southeast Saskatchewan, said Doug Wakabayashi with the Ministry of Highways.
“These are largely in an area approximately defined by Highway 5 to the north and then between the Manitoba border and Highway 9,” Wakabayashi said.
Water is running over about six highways in east-central Saskatchewan water, but the roads are not closed.
“Right now, the only highway where we’ve seen any sort of significant damage is on Highway 13,” Wakabayashi said. “There is a culvert failure on Highway 13, but we’ll need the water to go down a bit and assess the damage before we can make an estimate of how long it will take to repair.”
Typically, Regina receives 71 millimetres of rain in June. But as of 6 p.m. on Sunday, 66 millimetres were recorded at the Regina International Airport, Paola said.
While Regina didn’t declare a state of emergency, the city had water woes.
Three vehicles were submerged in the Albert Street underpass Sunday afternoon, but no one was injured.
Helene Henning-Hill, manager of sewer and drainage operations with the City of Regina, couldn’t say when the underpass would be clear of water.
“As the system starts to take that water, Albert Street will start to unplug itself … We’re still kind of at the mercy of Mother Nature. If we get a big rainstorm again, our system will have to take that rainfall,” Henning-Hill said.
Many Reginans were pumping water out of their basements and a number of streets were flooded, including 14th Avenue around the Regina General Hospital.
Between 60 and 100 city employees were out all day unplugging storm drains and monitoring the impact of flooding, Henning-Hill said.
“We’re encouraging residents, as much as possible, to stay home and make sure that the sewer caps are in place,” she said. “If they have backflow preventers, make sure they are fully operational and that downspouts are away from foundations.”
Residents are asked to remove debris from catch basins and stay away from retention ponds.
Henning-Hill urges residents to be cautious when navigating flooded streets because some manholes and catch basins might have been raised. If you see a manhole cover that is off, call 306-777-7000 so city crews can respond.
The Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) will help residents and communities in flooded areas — particularly for items not covered by insurance, said Karen Lautsch, assistant deputy minister with Government Relations.
“We can assist with things like cleanup costs, replacement of household items, structural damages and repairs for private residences,” Lautsch said.
“And of course, we will be able to assist communities with some of the issues they’re facing with road damages.”
To access the program, communities must contact PDAP and request designation under the program, which is separate from a declaration of a local state of emergency.
When it’s safe to do so, Lautsch suggests homeowners take pictures and video to document flood damage. More PDAP information is available by logging on to gr.gov.sk.ca/PDAP or calling 1-866-632-4033.
Crews were dispatched to deal with power outages affecting about 8,000 customers throughout southeast Saskatchewan because of downed trees on power lines or poles damaged by water, said Kristin Linklater with SaskPower.
Customers can report outages by calling 306-310-2220.
Likewise, Vanessa Beaupre with SaskEnergy urges residents with flooded basements to call 1-888-700-0427 so crews can shut off gas service.
The City of Yorkton was among the communities that declared a state of emergency on Sunday.
“We’re having localized issues with sewer backup and there are some low-lying areas that are having some flooding issues,” said Mayor Bob Maloney.
“It’s certainly nothing like 2010, but it’s serious enough that we want to make sure that residents are checking on neighbours and looking after each other.
Some intersections and an underpass were flooded.
“There is so much water in our sanitary and storm system that it’s got nowhere to go,” Maloney said. “It’s slowly draining off, but if the rain continues and if people keep pumping their sumps into our storm or sewer system, it’s basically overcharging the system and that’s when it backs up.”
Similarly, the City of Melville declared a state of emergency Sunday because high levels of rainfall were overwhelming the city’s storm and domestic sewer systems and lifts.
“Our city crews have been up all night,” said Mayor Walter Streelasky Sunday morning. “We have set up a command centre at city hall, but it’s flooding right here in city hall along with a whole lot of residences and probably commercial sites also. We have received more than 5½ inches of rain in the last 24 hours and it’s still coming down very hard.”
Residents are urged not to do laundry and limit the water they use for showers and washing dishes.
Citizens who live in homes with sump pumps that currently empty into a basement drain are asked to divert the hose so it drains outside towards the street instead of entering the domestic system.
However, the forecast holds hope.
“The rainfall will ease off (today) compared to the rates we’ve seen over the past day or two,” Paola said. “By Canada Day, it looks like clearing conditions and then sunny and warmer for the rest of the week.”
pcowan@leaderpost.com
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