Three Saskatchewan towns threatened by flood waters

Southern half of the province may face high run-off

REGINA — Three Saskatchewan municipalities have declared states of emergency as rising flood water threatens homes.

The town of Radisson and the village of Borden, which are both located just northwest of Saskatoon, declared emergencies Monday.

Radisson town councillor Dave Summers says people in the community have been sandbagging and putting up barriers since Saturday, but the water “is rising rapidly.”

“There’s a lot of water coming, there’s more to come, but we went into a state of emergency because we’re going to have homes flooded if we don’t so we’re trying to prevent that,” said Summers.

“Some homes may still flood and we have some people on evacuation standby.”

Summers says 10 to 15 homes, possibly more, and a seniors villa, might have to be evacuated depending on how the water rises. Volunteers were helping residents move things out of their basements to higher floors, he said.

“The water is coming. We know we’re going to get more within this week and whenever it warms up again because the snow isn’t all melted,” he said.

Radisson and Borden join the town of Maidstone, located further northwest along Highway 16, which has also declared an emergency because of flooding.

The communities are in an area that the Water Security Agency had warned would likely see flooding because of very high spring run-off.

The agency has said the entire southern half of Saskatchewan will see water run-off levels above or well above normal. Run-off is expected to be very high and flooding is likely to occur from Moose Jaw to Indian Head, including Regina, and south past Weyburn to near the United States border. Saskatoon, Prince Albert and North Battleford are in the red zone as well.

Maidstone was the first municipality to declare an emergency.

“I think that’s just a result of local run-off in that particular area and ... some of the water got into the town and affected their sewer system,” said Duane McKay, Saskatchewan’s commissioner of emergency management.

“We’ve moved some equipment there to help them mitigate the damage and perhaps assist in re-routing some of the water around the community.”

PHOTOS: TROY FLEECE/ POSTMEDIA NEWS A semi travelling westbound on the flooded portion of the Trans-Canada Highway just east of Indian Head appears to be driving on top of the waters that are threatening three Saskatchewan communities.

Spring flooding caused severe damage to this home at Lakeview Beach on Katepwa Lake in Saskatchewan.