Conditions are improving, but we’re the recovery will take time.
That was the message as disaster assistance leaders with the provincial government spoke to reporters about flood recovering efforts on Thursday.
“In light of recent weather, obviously the water levels appear to be receding,” Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) Investigations and Emergency Response Director Dale Rockel said.
“We’re certainly not out of the woods yet.”
There are still 12 communities, RMs, and First Nations with active declarations of local emergencies. Crews are also still making repairs to provincial highways.
Ministry of Highways spokesperson Dan Palmer said there are still four sections of provincial highway closed due to flooding, and another 10 where water is impacting driving lanes.
Palmer said they’ve been able to restore service in some areas on a temporary basis.
This temporary bridge on Hwy 49 west of Pelly has allowed traffic to hit the road again following a washout on June 30.
“This is certainly better than it was previously, but there’s obviously still some impact on the provincial highway network,” he told reporters.
East Central Saskatchewan near the Manitoba border was among the hardest areas hit. Crews just recently finished deploying a temporary bridge on Hwy 49 west of Pelly after a portion of the road washed out.
Palmer said they first heard about the washout on June 30, and deployed a temporary bridge by July 3.
Crews are still working on a culvert washout that destroyed a portion of Highway 8 near Kamsack. Palmer said the highway reopened on July 2, one day after they heard about the washout, but they are still trying to determine what the best long-term repair strategy will be.
SPSA Provincial Disaster Assistance Program Executive Director Noel McAvena said they are still calculating how much damage flooding has caused across Saskatchewan. He said it’s “certainly too early” to give any sort of accurate estimate.
“Engineers, adjusters, and appraisers are attending communities and trying to enumerate those damages. Obviously, the damages need to be identified, and highways also have assessments ongoing. We’ll need to identify what the necessary repairs are before we can even begin to create an accurate estimate of what the cost of those repairs might be.
@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca
