Rising waters prompt evacuations in First Nations, RMs in northeast Sask.

Communities on john roy major rivers in nor'-east Saskatchewan ar evacuating residents as the irrigate levels continue to rise.

Late Monday, Red Earth Cree Nation and Shoal Lake Cree Nation started moving Priority 1 individuals (elders, expecting and new mothers, and medically high-risk people) out of their communities.

The Carrot River and Shell River are both threatening the communities, located roughly 200 kilometres east of Prince Albert.

"Water has its own way of returning to the land. That is nature's way," Prince Albert Grand Council Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte said in a news release. "But when it comes back like this, it creates serious problems for our communities, our roads, our homes and our families."

RMs along the Carrot River have also been evacuating residents who live near the water, including the RM of Connaught.

"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 RM's notice said.

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.

A news release from the Prince Albert Grand Council said the Water Security Agency reported the Carrot River near Smoky Burn "has broken all records at the station" and that flows on Monday "exceeded the gauge's measurement capacity."

And waters are still rising. The peak may not arrive until May 9.

Massive snowstorms and warm weather led to flooding across Sask.

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.

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

North of Prince Albert, in the RM of Paddockwood, 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.

On Wahpeton Dakota Nation, northwest of Prince Albert, floodwaters breached the White Star grid road late Monday night and the Shell River flowed through, said Chief John Waditaka.

"When it went through last night, you could hear it breaking trees in the forest," he said in an interview.

He said they expect the waters to keep rising, as the lakes feeding the river still have a lot of ice on them.

Waditaka said everyone is pitching in, but resources are stretched thin right across the region.

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