REGINA – Flood protection for a northern Saskatchewan community is being beefed up. The provincial government announced Wednesday $950,000 in funding to build permanent flood protection works for Cumberland House and the Cumberland House Cree Nation.
“Cumberland House is one of our strong northern communities and is home to a very unique landscape,” said Scott Moe, the minister responsible for the Water Security Agency.
“This community is essentially surrounded by water and our government felt a permanent solution to ensure a higher level of flood protection is an important investment to protect this community.”
Around 2,200 people had to be evacuated in June 2013 after flood waters threatened to wash away Highway 123, the only road into the community.
At the time, the WSA provided temporary flood protection dikes. Those will now be made into permanent dikes by adding material to the road beds of the highway and Lambert Drive.
Officials say that will give the communities up to one in 100 year flood protection.
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Flooding also affected Cumberland House in 2011, with evacuation costs coming in around $1.5 million.
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