It was not only in town, but also in the rural area. Swanson said speaking to rural foreman John Anderson, she heard about 70% of the roads in the south part of the municipality had water over them, and there were gouges on north of town roads.
“It has been really horrendous for everyone,” Swanson explained, adding that her house as well had water and sewer backup. “How much rain can you take?”
For some, the storm was horrific. The town is full of stories of completely flooded basements, or businesses that were underwater. Dumping furniture, tearing up carpet and losing memories were a heartbreaking part of the story.
It also led to cancellations of Boissevain’s Canada Day celebrations. The Heritage Day part at the Irvin Goodon International Wildlife Museum, set for June 30, was the first to go, with the whole area flooded. Then the Lions car show, parade and fireworks on Canada’s birthday were cancelled. With the area wet, people and organizers battered and dealing with their own issues, it was the only choice that could be made.
To the west, Deloraine received about five inches of rain as a part of the same storm. According to Deloraine-Winchester CAO Breigh Crepeele, the impact was immediate.
“Public works reported approximately 80 areas where the water ran over the roads through the whole municipality but only a couple areas that were really bad,” Crepeele explained. “We need to watch the overland water coming from the lake because it comes into the creeks that are already overflowing. We didn’t have to cut any roads though to help water flow, which is good.”
She said the damage from the storm seemed to be everywhere, with more basements flooded than not. With that much rain coming in 90 minutes, and the inevitable runoff from the nearby Turtle Mountains, Deloraine and area was in trouble.
“In town, Broadway Street is the divide and all water east needs to head east to get out of town and everything west of the street has to head west. We had pumps on the east road pumping over as the culverts can’t keep up and pumps on the west dike to pump over. The water got to the top of the dike at one point.”
Crepeele added there were some areas of Deloraine where homes seemed to be surrounded by water, and it started coming in windows. Mostly, however, it was sewer backup. The mains were full and coming up wherever they could. Flooding in basements from that was anywhere from a couple of inches to four feet.
Both Boissevain-Morton and Deloraine-Winchester declared a state of emergency. Crepeele said it allowed them to have some emergency powers to prevent damage to people and property. Swanson added the big part of that was to give people the possibility of provincial help if their insurance did not cover everything. As well, the municipality can also apply for assistance, as no one can possibly budget for this.
The road being built up by the campground on Anderson Drive was flooded out. They will have to start this again, Swanson stated. It is just another example of the impact of flooding.
One positive in Boissevain-Morton, she said, was how the community pulled together. People were helping each other pump water, move damaged articles and assisting in many other ways. The plumber came to her house at about 11pm. The Co-op opened up for people who needed pumps. Red Hand helped out the municipal crew. The landfill stayed open late.
“People were really good and are still really good,” Swanson explained. “The community really stepped up and helped. People need to be patient, this will take a while. Because this is a small community, we look after each other and we’ll be fine. I feel terrible for people, it’s a bad time for everyone, but we will look to the future.”
“We do know the community pulls together, and they did. Everybody pitched in.”
Crepeele said their crews were working with the fire department and volunteers to clean up and move the water in the right direction, as well as keeping an eye out for more rain. She too gave kudos to her community.
“Unfortunately, this isn’t our first flood, and once again our residents proved just how resilient and caring they are,” Crepeele stated. “From the very beginning, we had no shortage of people calling to offer help or the use of their equipment—tractors, pumps, trailers, and anything else that might be needed.”
“What stood out most was that the support wasn’t limited to our own municipality. We saw people from surrounding communities showing up to lend a hand however they could, whether that meant pumping out basements, hauling damaged belongings, delivering supplies, or simply offering a hug and words of encouragement to someone having a difficult day.”
“While the flooding has been devastating for many families, it has also been a powerful reminder of what makes our community so special. When people need help, our community doesn’t hesitate—they simply show up. I couldn’t be prouder of how everyone came together.”
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff