'Never seen water like that:' Arborfield digs in to face flood

Emergency workers and dedicated residents worked around the clock Tuesday in an effort to keep Arborfield from washing away.

Much of the town turned into a lake, with washed-out roads and lawns looking more like pools, due to intense rain on Monday.

That night, a state of emergency was declared in the R.M of Arborfield, located 164 kilometres east of Prince Albert. Around 4 p.m. the next day, 400 people living in the area were given evacuation notices.

The order came after a 27-metre wide rupture caused a holdback road to give way about 13 kilometres south of the town.

The province issued an alert just after 4 p.m. Tuesday, saying flood waters were expected to reach the west side of the town within hours, with the potential to create dangerous situations and extreme flooding.

R.M. Coun. Al Bronner said the priority was saving as many houses as possible by sandbagging and building dykes around properties.

Workers on the ground estimated more than 8,000 sandbags had been laid by 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Many said they’d been working more than 24 hours, with only a few hours of sleep.

Local farmer Dave Lindsay said the damage was “quite a bit worse” than any past flooding in Arborfield.

“I’ve never seen water like that before,” he said.

No weather alerts are in effect for the area. Environment Canada forecasts a 40 per cent chance of light rain on Wednesday.