Most flooded areas in Saskatchewan are moving into the recovery phase, emergency management commissioner Duane McKay said today.
There are still areas under declared states of emergency, but several will expire within the next several days.
These include the village of Borden and the rural municipalities of Prince Albert, Humboldt, Rosthern, Fish Creek and Great Bend.
“Generally speaking, we’re seeing some of the cleanup around the flood areas and supporting where necessary,” McKay said.
In the Fish Creek and Prince Albert areas there is still a lot of water to dry up or move off the land.
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Some individual homes are still being affected and 22 people remain out of their homes in various areas until their access issues are resolved or repairs are made to their houses.
So far, 74 communities and four First Nations have applied to the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program for a designation that will allow their residents to apply for help. Of these, 25 have already been approved.
McKay and other provincial officials said the flood situation didn’t get as bad as expected in some areas because of the late, protracted melt and the dry conditions last fall. However, the province isn’t out of the woods in terms of possible emergencies this summer.
There were 30 confirmed tornadoes last year, McKay pointed out, and the 2011 flood was caused by heavy June rain.
Also, fire is a concern. The southern half of the province is at high risk for wildfires, while the risk in the north is considered moderate.
Steve Roberts, executive director of wildfire management, said there is a pocket of extreme risk in the Regina-Assiniboia area.
Patrick Boyle of the Water Security Agency also warned long weekend boaters to be careful on lakes and waterways that might contain debris such as logs and branches due to high runoff.
He said the water on the Qu’Appelle lakes system is expected to peak during the weekend.
Meanwhile, officials are working to find a way to move the water that has closed Highway 2 south of Prince Albert. The water is sitting in a closed basin and not moving.
“This is a really complex situation as we’re going to have to move this water roughly two miles into a nearby creek that runs into a major system,” Boyle said. “On top of that it’s even more complicated because the area landscape has a lot of steep hills and low lands which makes it even more difficult to manage.”
Highways ministry spokesperson Doug Wakabayashi said drivers are urged to follow the posted detour route onto Highway 25 and Highway 3. Some motorists are taking grid road shortcuts and causing maintenance problems for a rural municipality that is already struggling with flooding.
