By Andrew de Souza

Rains affects northern communities

Jul 22, 2011 | 12:07 PM

Heavy Rains are affecting communities throughout north central Saskatchewan.

In the Montreal Lake Cree Nation, almost 200 people were evacuated from a flooded neighbourhod.
Coun. James Ballantyne said everything happened very quickly

“It started at about 10 o’clock that the road began to wash out, and by 2 o’clock it was completely washed out,” he said.

Ballantyne said the band tried to bus people out as soon as possible but the road washed out before they could move everyone.

“We had to carry the members of the community across the river,” he said.

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On Friday, crews were working to rebuild the road and dig in culverts to drain the flooded areas.

As well, security was in place to keep people from entering into the numerous vacant homes.

Meanwhile, deluge in the ground is flowing northward and affecting communities along the watershed.

The extra water caused the Montreal River and various surrounding water bodies to swell well past their banks.

In Air Ronge, where the Montreal River meets Lac La Ronge, the water has gotten to the point where the community has declared a state of emergency.

Several basements have been flooded and a lift station on the banks of the river has been sandbagged in order to protect against sewage back-ups.

The leaders of the community, along with the leaders of the Town of La Ronge and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band have formed an emergency management committee to coordinate flood abatement efforts and protect the communities.

Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson said they’re all keeping an eye on the situation and are all on call to handle any emergencies.

“If the situation changes, we’ll get together right away,” she said. “We have the Rangers, we can call the military if we have to, we have the RCMP, we have the fire department and also the band security and workers. So we have a lot of resources we can pull together.”

The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority said the water levels are expected to remain around the current levels well into August.

They’re also warning against the possibility of floods at many lakes including Candle, Little Bear, Wapawekka, Big Sandy, Deschambault, Jan and Pelican.

adesouza@panow.com