What A Mess

   That was the scene outside the hospital in Melville, Saskatchewan this morning, taken by GX94 Sports Director Benny Walchuk. The hospital had to be evacuated after a weekend of excessively heavy rain dumped up to 240 millimeters, or 9+ inches, of rain on parts of our province and Manitoba.
   The dam at the reservoir in that city has apparently held, but a helicopter is being brought in to overfly it.
   Yorkton, where I live, was hit hard as well with 110 mm of rain through the weekend. Our mayor says 50% of the homes here have had some form of water damage, either sewer back-ups or seepage. Storm drain systems across the region are overtaxed due to the rain.
   Several highways have been closed and are impassable on both sides of the boundary.
   Ironically, it was 4 years ago to the day today Yorkton was hit by major flooding after a torrential storm. Some of the measures taken after that event to prevent future flooding did work, including drainage basins, which helped mitigate flooding in several homes and businesses.
   And while we are supposed to be in for sunny, hotter weather, that too poses potential problems in the form of possible thunderstorms as the moist air gets heated.
   As for when it's going to dry out.....right now, that's a mystery. But it is going to be days, if not weeks, before things in southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba return to any semblance of normal.

TTFN