Borden, Sask., is one of several communities in the province fighting off flood waters. With nine Saskatchewan communities declaring states of emergency in the last week, efforts to fight off rising waters have gone into high gear.
On Wednesday, Borden welcomed dozens of volunteers from across the region who gave their time to help fight the flood. High school students from Hepburn arrived by bus Wednesday morning, and another group relieved them later in the afternoon. The students, from Grade 10 to Grade 12, spent the day filling sandbags.
“It means a lot to support Borden. I’m not from here, but it’s good to help them out knowing they’re in need,” Jayla Friesen, one of the students in from Hepburn, said.
Another group lending a hand was Saskatoon Urban Camp, a group of inmates from the Saskatoon Provincial Correction Centre. “We came out on Monday to Radisson and helped out there, but obviously Borden was getting more flooded than Radisson, so we decided to come out here,” Arnold Wardman, and Urban Camp member, said.
Urban Camp members helped a family empty their home of their furniture and assisted sandbagging the home from rising waters. “They need all the help they can get,” Wardman said.
According to Borden’s mayor Dave Buckingham, the water has risen two feet since Tuesday. Seven pumps have been set up to remove the rising water, but the mayor said it’s coming in faster than they can pump it out.
Several homes in the town’s north end have been evacuated.
“We’re just doing sandbagging and trying to mitigate any situations we have there. That’s all we can do is try and hold the water back right now until we can figure out a way to get rid of the water.” Buckingham said.
