REGINA – Forty-eight Saskatchewan communities have asked the province for disaster assistance because of flooding, while 14 communities were under states of emergency Wednesday.
Water officials suggested things are looking up.
“Overall the majority of the province is now seeing a recession of water. There are still some areas that have localized issues, but in the southern areas the majority of the local inflows are declining,” said Patrick Boyle with the Water Security Agency.
“Flows in Wascana Creek and the Qu’Appelle (River) at Lumsden have peaked and are beginning to decline.”
The Water Security Agency had warned that the entire southern half of the province would see run-off levels above or well-above normal.
It said run-off would be even higher and flooding was likely in areas from Moose Jaw to Indian Head, including Regina, and south past Weyburn to near the United States border. Saskatoon, Prince Albert and North Battleford were also expected to see flooding.
However, the late spring melt helped because water flowed in stages, rather than all at once. A lot of snow was also absorbed by the ground or evaporated.
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Deputy emergency management commissioner Colin King cautioned people not to let down their guard.
“There is some perception, whether it be out there in the communities, in the public, that the threat is pretty much gone – that’s not really the case,” said King.
King said more communities may declare emergencies as water flows through. Some lakes, particularly those in the Qu’Appelle Valley, will still rise over the next couple of weeks.
“Yes, the forecast may be lower than forecasted previously for some of those lakes, but they are still quite high and there will be response activities required in those areas,” said King.
Several highways were also impacted by water.
Most notably, both the eastbound lanes and westbound lanes of Highway 16, the Yellowhead Head Highway, near Radisson were under water Wednesday. The highway connects Saskatoon and Edmonton via Lloydminster.
Highways spokeswoman Kirsten Leatherdale said the eastbound lanes were harder hit with about 25 centimetres of water.
“Large trucks and semis can get through, but light vehicle traffic is being detoured around. The detour in place is about 80 extra kilometres to the drive,” said Leatherdale.
Officials were trying to put a water barrier in the area Wednesday to pump water off the westbound lanes so they could be opened to two-way traffic.
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