Storm-ravaged Sask. gets provincial aid

About 350 property owners in Saskatchewan will qualify fordisaster relief from the province after weeks of stormy weather that hasdestroyed homes and ravaged communities.

That's the early estimate of the number of affected properties as municipal and provincial officials are beginning to come to grips with the situation that has brought severe flooding to several parts of the province.

In Saskatoon on Friday, more than 100 homeowners whose residences were hit by sewer backups during the latest stormwere on hand ascity councilpassed an emergency resolution asking the province for disaster relief.

Typically, insurance does not cover groundwater flooding or seepage but disaster relief allows financial aid to flow to affected homeowners.

Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison said the premier is promising quick payouts to those across the province affected by the immense amounts of rain.

"He assures me that the situation will be dealt with very quickly just as it was in the Maple Creek area," said Atchison. "Hopefully we'll be able to help out a tremendous amount of families that are wondering what's going to happen to them."

Premier Brad Wall said a committee has been established to meet the needs of flood victims.

'Hopefully we'll be able to help out a tremendous amount of families that are wondering what's going to happen to them.' Don Atchison, Saskatoon mayor

"I want to ensure that the followup to these efforts meets the medium- and long-term needs of the victims,"said Wall. "Our province is experiencing an unprecedented spring rainfall that is causing widespread havoc and needs of Saskatchewan people must be addressed as quickly as possible."

About 350 homes across the province will qualify for the aid, and insurance companies are being deluged with claims.

"We've looked at over 250 claims in the Maple Creek area; those claims are now being processed," said Tony Playter of SGI Canada. "We have extra people in Saskatoon and we'll be sending a team to Yorkton to help look after our clients there."

Kathy Schaan said her insurance agency has been dealing with about 30 claims per day, which is a typical amount for a three-month period.

"We hope to have most of the claims looked at over the weekend," said Schaan. "We are bringing in extra forces from around the province to help with the adjusting of the claims."

Schaan said insurance rates will go up marginally because of all the claims.

Saskatoon suffers

A stormTuesday storm overwhelmed Saskatoon's infrastructure by dumping 85 millimetres of rain in three hours.

Newly upgraded superpipes and storm sewers were unable to compete with the storm's impact.

"Three inches in three hours you just can't deal with those types of scenarios," said Atchison.

The neighbourhoods ofConfederation Park, Westview and Massey Place,which are low spots in northwest Saskatoon, account for almost half the flooded basements after the storm.

'Three inches in three hours, you just can't deal with those types of scenarios.' Don Atchison

Galen Heinrichs, the city's water and sewer engineering manager, said the flooding occurred because technology can't keep up with the forces of nature.

"A lot of the places you see that are getting flooded now are simply low spots in the system. You can go down and take a look up the street and see it's the lowest area and that's why the water is accumulating there," said Heinrichs. "That's why sanitary sewer backups also happen in those areas. It's just because they are so low."

Atchison said the superpipes have now been drained and are ready for the next big storm.

"You did hear that the supertanks are empty again, which holds three and a half million litres of sewage right now. The ponds are being lowered again as well right now," saidAtchison."Everything is going as quickly as they can but they can only do so much at this time as well."

The city said it is spending millions of dollars upgrading its flood defences.

Province devastated

About 100 families were forced from their homes when water poured into Yorkton, Sask., basements on Thursday evening.

Rescuers used canoes and front-end loaders following the heavy rain and widespread street flooding.

The Red Cross set up temporary shelters to help those affected.

On Friday as many as 13 homes were destroyed and several others were damaged when a tornado struck Kawacatoose First Nation, 120 kilometres north of Regina.

These disasters followed the mid-June flooding that hit the community of Maple Creek. Heavy rains in that area forced the evacuation of a hospital and closed a portion of the Trans-Canada Highway near the Alberta border.

"People are facing catastrophic losses as a result of these natural events and we need to make sure that all levels of government respond in a compassionate, timely and effective manner," said Wall.