Provincial help coming for pair of flooded Saskatchewan towns

Two southeastern Saskatchewan towns that were left awash in runoff after a pounding rainstorm are getting help with the cleanup from the provincial government.

Flood recovery centres under the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program are being set up in Lampman and Alameda, where home and business owners are still assessing the damage after streets, yards and basements were left drenched last week.

The recovery centres will provide support and advice to residents, who will also be able to speak with a provincial building officials more about structural safety.

The province says it’s too early to determine how much damage the storm caused.

Lampman and Alameda are the only communities eligible for assistance so far, but the province says it’s in touch with others in the region and it expects additional applications for disaster aid.

The assistance program helps principal residents, communities and small business owners cover damage or loss to uninsurable, essential property due to natural disasters.

Lampman, with a population of more than 700, was the only municipality to declare a state of emergency.

Town employees spent the weekend pumping water out of the community. Trucks are still in the area trying to lower the level of water in some dugouts.

Lampman administrator Greg Wallin said there’s a lot of yard damage and some houses had serious sewer backups, but the roads suffered the most.

“We’ve got tens upon tens of thousands of dollars’ damage to the streets. The cost of having pumps and trucks in for two days trying to keep the water out of people’s houses ... that’s phenomenal. We don’t even know what it’s going to be,” Wallin said.

Under the provincial assistance program, a community does not need to declare a state of emergency before applying but does need to request to be designated a disaster area.