posted 06-29-2014 05:13 PM                       

It never rains but it pours. Literally.

I've been vacuuming several thousand gallons of water out of my basement all day here. I have three Shop Vacs and they're earning their keep today. Water is coming in so fast that I built a little temporary dam using a big garbage bag and gravel and put a hose under it to lead to one of my sumps. Water is running through that hose as fast as it can take it.



Sask. communities of Melville and Carnduff call state of emergency

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Heavy rainfall over the weekend in southeast Saskatchewan has some communities struggling to keep up with the influx of water.

It's led to dangerous travel conditions after some highways were submerged or washed out, and several states of emergency being declared.

The city of Melville called a state of emergency just before 9 a.m. CST after significant rainfall in the area.
Melville Flooding

Significant rainfall has lead the Melville, Sask. to declare a state of emergency. (City of Melville)

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Mayor Walt Streelasky tells CBC News the rain has compromised the city's sewer system. He is asking the people of Melville whose homes are flooding to to pump water into the street so it reaches the storm drains instead of the sanitary sewage system.

All of the city's fire trucks and those from neighbouring communities are working to pump water from the community, he said, adding one of the lift stations is sitting at about 45 cm and crews worked through the night sandbagging to keep the area from flooding further.

The town of Carnduff and the RM of Mount Pleasant No. 2 have also declared a state of emergency, according to the town's website.

It asks people in the area to stay where they are if they are safe and avoid travel.
Stranded on the farm

​Futher east, Denise Belisle phoned CBC from her farm near the Manitoba border saying water was rising around her home and she couldn't get to a road. Belisle's home is in the RM of Storthoaks, east of Redvers, Sask.

"Our home is surrounded by water, our yard is completely inundated, our farmyard is completely inundated. It's like a big lake and it's rushing across the road in four directions all around us," Belisle said.

Fairlight Flooding

Highway 48 to Fairlight, Sask., about 30 km south of Moosomin is overwhelmed with water. (Facebook)

She said Sunday morning the rain had been pouring and the wind had been howling for 24 hours, so she couldn't get to her livestock.

"We don't know where the cattle and the horses are, they're down south and the water is headed in that direction," she explained. "So we can't get down to check on them until it stops raining and we can access them."

Belisle said her cousin had called RCMP on her behalf.
Highways submerged

Meanwhile, police and highway crews are reporting dangerous road conditions due to the influx of rainwater.

Officers said nobody was hurt but many vehicles had become stuck trying to pass water-logged roads.

Highway 13 became washed out Sunday morning west of Redvers. RCMP said the same highway had portions under water east of Redvers as well. Highway 8 south of Redvers is under water.

Moosomin RCMP and highways employees decided to close Highway 8 from Moosomin north to Spy Hill, Sask., saying severe flooding crossing the highway and gravel roads has led to debris pile-ups making road travel particularly dangerous.

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posted 07-01-2014 10:56 AM                       

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Melville, Sask., was evacuating its hospital and care home Tuesday morning as flood water continued to cause grief for city residents.

157 patients from the Melville and District Health Centre and St. Paul's care home were being move to the Horizon Credit Union Centre, a hockey rink.

People started the transfer shortly before 6 a.m. CST.
Melville and District Health Centre

Rising water has been creeping toward the Melville and District Health Centre, the city's mayor says. (City of Melville)

Volunteers have been working through the night filling sandbags to protect the hospital and other threatened buildings around the flood-plague city of 5,000.

Many communities in southeast Saskatchewan and western Manitoba have been battling flooding over the past few days after torrential rain fell on the weekend. Melville got over 120 millimetres.

Roads, bridges and culverts have been washed away, crops are ruined and the basements of hundreds of homes in the area have been filled with rainwater and sewage.

Walter Streelasky, the mayor of Melville, said it's been a struggle to keep the flood waters at bay.

"We've got water that's creeping in around our hospital, so we're taking no chances and a full-scale evacuation is on, he said. "We've got a tremendous amount of volunteers sandbagging and doing all these things."

Streelasky says he regrets having to move patients, but he's glad people are there to help.

The Red Cross is on its way, but Streelasky says they could also use more volunteers for sandbagging and to help out at the rink.

Meanwhile, the city is keeping a careful eye on a berm at a reservoir. Streelasky said there is a concern the berm may have been "compromised", although he's not sure if it's broken or breached.

An inspection by helicopter will be done today to find out, he said.

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