Flooding forces evacuations in northeastern Saskatchewan

Flood waters are now forcing hundreds of people from their homes. CTV's Stacey Hein on some Saskatchewan families and First Nations under evacuation.

Flood waters are forcing hundreds of people from their homes, with some Saskatchewan families and First Nation communities under evacuation.

Sierra Bassingthwaite said her family was forced to leave their farm near Tisdale on Monday morning, evacuating by boat as floodwaters surrounded their home and livelihood.

“You’re basically leaving everything,” she said in an interview with CTV News. “All we have are the shirts on our backs.”

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Bassingthwaite said water began coming over the road on Saturday, with conditions worsening on Sunday.

“We were doing our best to prepare for the worst,” she said, adding she did not expect it to become this severe.

She said the uncertainty has been difficult.

“We don’t know when we’ll be able to go back home,” she said. “We’re just taking it day by day, that’s all we can really do,”

Meanwhile, members of Red Earth Cree Nation and Shoal Lake Cree Nation, both east of Nipawin, were also being forced out by rising water.

“The first time in my life I’ve seen this area flood,” said Nawakayas Johnston, a member of Red Earth Cree Nation.

Johnston used a canoe and a shovel as a makeshift paddle to rescue stranded residents. He then drove them to a local school gym, where they waited to be bused out.

The City of Saskatoon said the Red Cross, which is assisting with evacuations, had notified it of about 1,000 evacuees, with final numbers unclear as some headed to Prince Albert.

Pamela Goulden-McLeod, Saskatoon’s director of emergency management, said the city was working with community partners to support arriving evacuees with essential services.

“It’s really looking to the community leadership on what they’d like to see happening here in Saskatoon for their community,” Goulden-McLeod said.

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said that as of 4 p.m. Monday, 26 communities had declared a local state of emergency.