Photo: Road failure in RM of Fish Creek / Carol Baldwin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
By Carol Baldwin
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Wakaw Recorder
The RM of Fish Creek and several other locations are experiencing flooding and rural road closures due to the high temperatures experienced on Tuesday, April 21, which precipitated a rapid thaw of the remaining significant snow cover.
The Water Security Agency’s report from April 17th highlighted that regions around Prince Albert, along with other northern areas of the province, continued to experience snow cover well above normal due to the persistent cold weather. The Prince Albert area experienced particularly heavy snowfall this winter, with several significant snow events occurring in the last couple of months. Overall, according to the Water Security Agency, the total seasonal snowfall recorded in the region was high.
Notifications began appearing on the RM of Fish Creek’s Facebook page on Tuesday, of four stretches of road, representing approximately eight kilometres, closed due to flooding. By Wednesday afternoon, over 32 kilometres of rural roads within the RM were closed, with at least one road collapse.
At Domremy, meltwater was flowing over the railway bed underneath the tracks, and Elevator Road and 2nd Avenue are closed. Wednesday evening, all access to the village was cut off from the north. As well, Highway 320 water was reported over the road between Domremy and the Northern Light Road by Highway Hotline. In other areas of the RM of St Louis, road closures have also occurred. Several kilometres of river roads north of the St Laurent Ferry are closed, as well as many roads north and northeast of the hamlet of Bellevue and some segments of road east of Highway 2.
Wednesday afternoon, the RM of St Louis declared a local state of emergency, and, as confirmed by the RM of Fish Creek administration, Thursday morning, Fish Creek will be doing likewise. Road repairs, the nature of those needed for a collapse, such as what occurred on River Road, are expensive, but there is disaster assistance available from the provincial government. Before an application for assistance from the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP), a local state of emergency must be declared. Once a community is approved for designation, PDAP then outlines the next steps for the local authority.
PDAP is overseen by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) and supports residents, small businesses, agricultural operations, First Nations, non-profits and communities in recovering from natural disasters such as floods, tornadoes, plow winds and other severe weather events.
A Montana low is expected to track into the area Thursday and Friday this week, bringing a dump of snow and freezing temperatures. Meteorologist Terri Lang said that by Friday, Prince Albert should see the most snow at around 25 centimetres. Along with the snow will come wind gusts of up to 70 kilometres per hour, causing drifting and blowing snow and making travel hazardous.
Once temperatures rebound, if melting occurs too quickly, flooding conditions could intensify in areas already inundated by the rapid thaw on Tuesday. The cooler temperatures that are accompanying the current weather system are slowing the flow of flood waters for now, but a significant accumulation of wet snow could make more road closures necessary as spring weather moves in.
The RM of Fish Creek had this to say to drivers, “We cannot stress enough to obey the road closure signs. ‘Road Closure’ signs are not suggestions. Ignoring these signs is dangerous.”