Highway 16 east of Radisson, Sask., has re-opened to all traffic after the east-bound lanes were closed to light vehicles for several days due to flooding.
Highways spokesperson Kirsten Leatherdale said the road re-opened about 3:40 a.m. today when the water subsided enough to allow all vehicles through.
Eight pumps and an Aqua Dam were used to keep the water — 25 centimetres deep at one point — at bay.
Leatherdale said most of the water was pumped over the railroad tracks into a natural drainage area.
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“We’re quite careful about how we do that,” she said. “In some situations we can’t bring in pumps because there is no good place for the water to go.”
Highway 2 south of Prince Albert is still closed because water is going over the road in three large sections and remains too deep for vehicles to pass through.
Access issues are a concern in various rural municipalities. In the Rural Municipality of Fish Creek there are reports of 1.8 metres of water over some roads. A couple of families have left their farm homes until the water recedes.
Water Security Agency spokesperson Patrick Boyle said in that area around Wakaw the topography is low and drainage is poor, resulting in floods.
Colin King, deputy commissioner of emergency management, said there could be other families in the area who have chosen to leave their homes.
He said RMs have a lot of work ahead as they try to cope with the water.
“The difficulties of redirecting water from one location to another or defending against water that won’t move, those are some of the issues they’re dealing with,” he said. “The efforts are very good and the co-ordination and the decisions that are being made by the local authorities, using the best intelligence and best intentions, is resulting in a very effective response.”
Six RMs are now under local emergency declarations: Fish Creek, Corman Park, Great Bend, Rosthern, Humboldt and Meeting Lake.
Meeting Lake declared verbally May 3 but paperwork just arrived and will in fact expire soon, King noted. Both Meeting Lake and Fish Creek will have to decide whether to re-declare.
Canoe Lake has been added to the list of First Nations affected.
Boyle also noted that localized flooding on Shell Lake sent water into about 20 cottages in the area known as Big Shell. It wasn’t yet clear how much damage had been caused.
Meanwhile, dry conditions resulted in another grass fire yesterday. This time the Thunderchild First Nation in northwestern Saskatchewan was affected.
Visit the WP flood info page for the latest on the flooding situations in Alberta, Manitoba and Sask. – www.producer.com/daily/latest-flooding-info/
