Hundreds of rural roads damaged, closed as spring flooding hits Sask.

As springtime flooding continues to flux o'er roadstead in a great deal of Saskatchewan, some RMs say they're running out of barricades — and they're begging residents not to move the ones that are already in place.

In the RM of Paddockwood, north of Prince Albert, about 120 spots have washouts or water running over the road, said Naomi Hrischuk, the RM's chief administrative officer.

"There are some instances of people moving barricades or removing barricades," she said in an interview. "And some of the roads that are closed, the road is literally washed completely away, so removing barricades just creates such a hazard for people. So we would love if they would not do that."

The RM has declared a local emergency, and will begin repairing roads as soon as possible. But they have to wait for the waters to recede, said Blaine Hewitt, one of the fire chiefs for the Lakeland Volunteer Fire Department in the area.

"Just due to the high volume of water, there's just not a whole lot that anyone can really do until all this snow melts and waters finally start to recede," he said in an interview.

Like some others in the area, Hewitt's home is in a rural area with only one road in and one road out. So far, it's still open, but he said that's not the case for one of his co-workers who is essentially locked out of his property due to the flooding.

Roads washed out, basements flooded in Quill Lake, Sask.

West of Prince Albert, the RM of Connaught has also declared a local emergency. On Monday, it issued an evacuation order for residents in the area around the Carrot River.

"Residents in this area that are in danger of residential flooding and/or losing vehicle access out of their yard or to a major gravel road, are required to evacuate," the notice said.

The RM posted on its Facebook page on Sunday that "many roads are running over now and we don't have enough barricades and signage. Please drive with caution."

The small community of Armley is within that RM — and measurements by the Water Security Agency showed inflows into the Carrot River in that area were at 1-in-200-year levels.

The flooding is being caused by rapid melting of a larger-than-average snowpack in the province, which was augmented by massive late spring snowfalls in April.

As of Tuesday morning, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said it was responding to 19 active flooding incidents. Year-to-date, it reports there have been 24 incidents — more than triple the five-year average of seven incidents.

Motorists are advised to check the Highway Hotline for the most up-to-date information before travelling.

As of Monday, flooding had resulted in 15 active local emergencies in the province. And the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said there's the possibility of more on the way.

The northwest, northeast and east-central parts of the province are the worst affected.

Reporter/Editor

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