RM of Blaine Lake still under state of emergency

While most of the province is past flood season, the Rural Municipality of Blaine Lake is still under a state of emergency.

Across most of Saskatchewan, flood waters have subsided. However, the Rural Municipality of Blaine Lake is still in a state of emergency. People have been forced out of their homes, roads have been cut, and in some areas, the water still hasn’t peaked.

At one farmhouse, water broke through berms and flooded the basement with a meter and a half of water.

“It’s stressful. Edna is in her 80’s and her son john is 57. They both semi-retired a couple years ago and were just going to stay on the farm,” said Tony Obrigewitch, the RM administrator.

A farm fertilizer and chemical warehouse was also threatened by water, and berms had to put in place to keep the flood at bay.

“At that point we talked to water security and a decision was made that we had to start cutting our roads because we didn’t want that kind of disaster,” Obrigewitch said.

Farmers are still using the flooded roads, which is only making their condition worse. According to Obrigewitch, there are thousands of acres of field that won’t be seeded this year, and potentially a few years more

The area had more than a meter of snow this year, and the province said they might be stuck with the high water levels for weeks.

"I don't think that they are out of the woods quite yet up there, but we will continue to monitor the situation and work with the municipality until that threat is gone,” said Duane McKay, the province’s commissioner of emergency management.

RM officials are working on dealing with washed out roads. The RM is expecting engineers in the area to access the damage, and only after that will they be able to start the rebuilding process.