Southern Saskatchewan cities facing threat of flooding from rainfall

Cities in southern Saskatchewan are bracing for between 30 and 60 millimetres of rainfall over the next 24 to 48 hours.

The large amounts of rain have some in areas like Weyburn and Estevan concerned about potential flooding. In the past, those areas have been hit hard by flash flooding from rainfall.

Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig said Thursday that while people in that city have been victims of flooding in the past, he feels they’ve learned and are ready to take on Mother Nature.

“We’ve got great people in place and we’re always prepared for situations like this,” Ludwig said. “We plan for the worst and hope for the best.”

Ludwig added there is some promise for citizens this time around.

“We were fortunate with the last dump of snow we got that (it) dissipated slowly, so it allowed us to get rid of that water without any issues,” he said. “Depending how quick the rain comes and how much we get, there is potential for some issues.”

Ludwig mentioned city officials know where their trouble spots are and also have crews on standby.

“We’ve got very experienced people,” he said. “As for the flooding we had two years ago, we learned where the trouble spots are (and what) the real issues are and we can focus on that.

“All the equipment we feel we need we’ll have and then on top of that, (with the storm sewers), we’ll have to make sure those are cleared ahead of time and deal with it as it comes.”

The good news from Environment Canada so far is that the rain won’t fall all at once, which could help the city avoid any major flooding.

Weyburn Mayor Marcel Roy says it will likely be the farmers feeling the impact of the rain as opposed to his community.

“Fortunately, we have missed a lot of the rain (in the past). We’re not seeing that overwhelming amount of rain and water. We aren’t as bad as downriver is and up into Manitoba. We’ve always got our city works on standby,” Roy said.

“The unfortunate thing is a lot of the farmers are starting to seed and they’re still very wet. They’re just getting going and now they’re going to get hit with a bunch of rain.”

The 2011 floods in Weyburn forced the city to prepare for storms like this so it now feels it can manage them.

The rain is expected to stop falling by Saturday afternoon.