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Cool weather slows flood down, not over

Cool weather has slowed the snow melt down, and helped keep the rise of flood waters in the Weyburn and area from overwhelming the area and causing damage, while the flood that hit Radville has mostly subsided, while leaving that community with an em



Cool weather has slowed the snow melt down, and helped keep the rise of flood waters in the Weyburn and area from overwhelming the area and causing damage, while the flood that hit Radville has mostly subsided, while leaving that community with an emergency boil-water advisory and water rationing.

In Weyburn, the closure of the Government Road bridge and the dikes on either side of Highway 39 at Government Road and at River Park will all remain in place, as the high runoff isn't finished yet for the Souris River, said city engineer Rene Richard.

"According to Sask. Watershed Authority, there's a lot of water that is yet to come, such as up by Cedoux and that area, but that will depend partly on the weather. For now, we'll leave Government Road closed and the dikes in place," said Richard.

The bridge on Government Road was closed late Wednesday evening when the river began to rise rapidly, he explained.

"We told the readers (of the river level) to let us know if the river comes up eight inches over night; the first reading showed the river came up six inches in an hour, so we pretty much had to go. It was coming up gradually to that point, and we were holding pretty steadily up until then," said Richard. "If it had continued to rise six inches every hour after that, it would've hit the highway."

Also on Wednesday afternoon, a large and sudden backup of water rose up on Railway Avenue; Richard explained the water was diverted from the 16th Street area, or else Highway 39 would have been overflowed at that point. The measure was temporary, as the water was pumped off Railway Avenue by late that evening.

Since then, the cooler temperatures have helped ease the flooding risk, he added, however if a really warm day comes, there can still be a large influx of water from north of the city. The good news is, as the river has gone down about six inches over the weekend, or a foot since Wednesday, there is now capacity to handle that extra water, plus the dikes are in place in case the river does go over the bridge deck and onto the highway.

"They think there's a ton of water that has yet to come," said Richard. "We're not yet in a situation where we can take down the dikes. I think most people have figured out their detour routes around Government Road."

Highway 39 was reopened to traffic on Friday afternoon after it had also been closed through the city on Wednesday night due to the high river.

In the meantime, the Town of Radville and RM of Laurier spent much of last week under a state of emergency, when Long Creek overflowed its banks on Tuesday, cresting early Wednesday, forcing one family to vacate their home when the basement filled with water.

The state of emergency was lifted by late Monday, but meanwhile they remain under an emergency boil-water advisory and water rationing, due to the effects of the flooding at their water treatment plant.

Weyburn's fire Chief Steve Debienne and a number of fire fighters went to Radville to lend a hand to Radville's town and RM personnel, mainly helping in a low-lying residential area where they built dikes to protect the homes there.

"They helped us immensely. Steve was particularly a godsend, as his knowledge and expertise helped us tremendously," said Mayor Shirley Cancade.

Asked what the next steps will be for the town, she said, "A lot of roads were damaged, and the lift station was flooded; it will have to be replaced."

The mayor wasn't sure how long the boil-water advisory will be in place, as the town has to repair flooding damages to the filtration plant, and water samples sent to Environment have to show the water is healthy and safe to drink.

"We're asking the community to ration the water, as we have to repair our water supply system. We can only produce about half of what the town is using (with the backup system)," said Mayor Cancade.

The town's dikes will also remain in place for the time being, she added, as they were told there is still a fair amount of runoff yet to come.

Asked if the town had dealt with flooding like this before, she said she's never seen anything like it in the over-30 years she has lived in Radville, and added, "I asked residents who have been here for 60 years or more, and they've never seen anything like this before."

Mayor Cancade said the town wasn't even on the Watershed Authority's list of areas that were "at risk" for flooding. "We're very lucky; it could've been a lot worse," she said.

Laurier Reeve Gene Gilmore added that the Long Creek has gone down about six feet from Wednesday, and they could've taken the state of emergency off over the weekend.

He said now it looks like the area just had a big heavy rain as the flood waters have mostly subsided in the countryside.

"The road damage is very minimal; there was some gravel loss where water went over the road," said the reeve, noting one bridge lost three abutments which had to be replaced. As of Monday, two bridges remained closed, and the Laurier Road remained closed. At one point, the waters were over the railway trestle bridge, and was 35 to 40 inches above Laurier Road, but now the waters are completely off that road.

"It will go back to normal within a week," said Reeve Gilmore, pointing out many rural residents have seen floods before (although, he admits, not this high) and many were prepared for the extra water.

"This is the highest I've ever seen it, but it's amazing how prepared the rural people are, because they've seen it flood before. I thought things went very smoothly. You have to let Mother Nature take its course, because there's not much you can do," said the reeve.

In an update from the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, the outflow from the Boundary reservoir remained at 130 cubic meters a second, and levels downstream are stabilizing; a reduction in the outflow was planned for Monday. The Rafferty dam is now above its full supply level, but no water is being released from the reservoir; the water is expected to continue rising to its maximum design elevation, which is 3.5 metres above full supply level.