Saskatchewan residents fight to protect homes from floods
Of all the properties in the Regional Municipality of Cupar dealing with spring flooding, Bill McCallum’s has been hit hardest.
McCallum, who has lived in the area for 21 years, is now doing everything he can to keep the water from reaching his house, which is located alongside Highway 6, just south of the town of Southey.
Clay has been brought in to build berms all around the home, and an additional line of sandbags has been put in place as well. But some of the damage has already been done, and the water is four feet deep in one area outside the temporary wall surrounding his home.
“I own out to that north tree line,” said McCallum while pointing to a group of trees a few feet away from his house.
“We’re going to wind up, I suspect, with that entire tree line gone ... It’s kind of devastating actually,” said McCallum,
Around him, bulldozers moved dirt and clay to increase the height of the berms surrounding his land from five feet to seven feet.
“Hopefully it will remain safe, but we don’t know at this point,” he said.
Most of the flooding is occurring along a 50- kilometre stretch of Highway 22 from Earl Grey to Dysart.
At the heart of the flood area is Southey, located where Highway 22 intersects with Highway 6, about 58 kilometres north of Regina.
Southey itself has put up flood barricades and a water pump at the southern edge of the town.
Ron Olson, owner of Olson Disaster Relief, was working in McCallum’s yard on Wednesday. Olson has also been working to protect three other properties in the area.
“I’ve been in this area 40 years and there’s never been water like this laying around. Last year was bad, this year is twice as bad,” said Olson.
Patrick Boyle, spokesman for the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency, said Wednesday that localized flooding in the area is the result of terminal sloughs overflowing from snow melt and runoff flowing from Earl Grey.
But it wasn’t something McCallum or his neighbours saw coming, especially since flooding had never been an issue in the area before.
“I don’t know how you plan for something that’s never happened,” said McCallum.
To help residents with homes in imminent danger of flooding, the province has an Emergency Flood Damage Reduction Program that provides risk assessment and mitigation recommendations, such as sandbagging or berm construction. The program also involves cost sharing for individuals and municipalities.
About 100 applications have been received so far this year. Although some have come from the Southey area, most are in southeast Saskatchewan, Boyle said.
The RM of Cupar has been approved to receive assistance from the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program ( PDAP) to help repair roads that had been flooded. PDAP helps residents and communities recover from the effects of natural disasters, such as flooding.
Boyle said the water is receding in the area, but didn’t have an estimate of how long it would take for water levels to get back to normal.
However, Olson said residents have been told to expect another two to three feet of water.
McCallum hopes his home will stay dry as long as the RM quickly carries out its plan to pump water out of the area.
“If they start pumping quickly we may be able to hold the level close to where it is and probably raise the berm a little bit more, and if that’s the case then we should be all right. And at this point really that’s all we can hope for I guess,” he said.
I’ve been in this area 40 years and there’s never been water like this laying around. Last year was bad, this year is twice as bad.