RM of Buckland making progress after spring flooding damaged roads, bridges

The spring flooding created emergencies across north central Saskatchewan. Previous paNOW coverage reported washed-out roads, flooded homes and evacuations in several rural areas, including the Shell River Heights area of Buckland, where one home flooded, and two more were considered at risk in early May.

The RM previously said White Star West Road was one of its highest priorities because of its importance to agriculture, regional traffic and northern recovery work. It was closed due to flooding in May and repair work began in July.

Clavelle said the White Star Road washout was on the west side and was connected to the Sturgeon River.

“That’s a major clearing-the-path route for us, so we had to get that done,” she said.

She said a local contractor has been handling major reconstruction work, which has allowed municipal crews to stay focused on smaller repairs, regular maintenance and other RM priorities.

“We’ve got a local contractor who is repairing roads and doing a fantastic job for us, so we’re just really pleased with the way it’s going,” Clavelle said.

The Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) is helping with some of the work, but Clavelle said the RM still has to absorb a high upfront cost before reimbursements begin.

“PDAP is actually more like an insurance claim than anything because you have to pay your deductible and your deductible is based upon the assessed value of the land in your RM,” she said. “We have to pay the first amount of that.”

The RM said in May that they expected to contribute about $400,000 toward repairs before federal disaster assistance would begin covering eligible costs.

Clavelle said the RM is also looking at whether some repairs can include resilience work to reduce future flood damage, depending on engineering assessments.

“If you need to make an improvement to mitigate future disaster, you can do so,” she said. “We’re working with the engineer to see what can be done because a lot of this flooding was new to us.”

Clavelle was impressed by the level of help the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency provided during the emergency, providing materials, resources and people when the flooding was at its worst.

“It’s unrealistic to expect a community to be able to provide that level of resources,” Clavelle said. “If you’re hit, all your neighbours are hit, so the whole community is in disaster.”

Clavelle also credited Buckland Fire and Rescue for its role in the response.

“They were helpful — manpower, people, expertise, organization, knowing how to coordinate an emergency and run an emergency centre,” she said. “Just so helpful.”

Municipal staff also spent much of the early summer repairing smaller washouts, replacing gravel and regrading roads where the damage did not qualify under PDAP.

“You know how flooding goes, you have a major area and that’s where the program assistance comes in, but you also have all sorts of little areas because once water picks a new path, it just goes,” Clavelle said.

While major repairs continue, Clavelle said the RM hopes to have the flood-related work completed before winter.

“We hope to have all of the work done by the time the snow flies,” she said. “Fingers crossed on that.”

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

RM of Buckland making progress after spring flooding damaged roads, bridges

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