WALKATHON STILL ON
A fundraising walkathon scheduled for Saturday, June 1 is still a go for now, said Wiebe.
“It’s still a couple weeks away, so that shouldn’t be affected,” he said.
The walkathon is aimed at raising funds for three or four new ceiling track lifts, which will allow staff to move residents more easily. The ceiling track lifts cost approximately $10,000 each, but it’s an investment that pays off for both staff and residents, said Wiebe.

CARE HOME EXPANSION
The care home is also looking to expand in the coming couple of years by adding an additional 72 assisted living units.
“Currently, we have 16 assisted living units, so that represents a major expansion,” said Wiebe. “We’ve been doing substantial fundraising in order to pay for the plans, which have now been drawn up. We are looking to come up with concrete pricing sometime this summer and hopefully begin construction sometime in 2014.”

A temporary bridge has been installed on Grid Road 685 east of Borden to allow access to the village from Highway 16

“We have a second wave of water coming,” said Ron Saunders, Reeve of the RM of Great Bend. “We don’t know how bad it’s going to be, but it could be even more water than we saw in the initial wave. The good news is that we are much better prepared for it this time.”
The RM council also met with the Warman RCMP detachment’s commanding officer, the provincial Water Security Agency, Village of Borden elected officials and local Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) personnel.

RADISSON LAKE OUTFLOW
In an interview on May 8, Saunders said there is a massive amount of water spilling out of Radisson Lake, a large slough to the northwest of Radisson. The water flows out of Radisson Lake and splits into two channels. One channel flows north, while the other heads south.
The water in the southern channel began spilling over the eastbound lanes of Highway 16 about four kilometers east of Radisson early Wednesday morning, May 8. By the afternoon, the water had begun flowing over the westbound lanes as well.
Eastbound traffic on Highway 16, with the exception of semi-trailer trucks, was being diverted north on Highway 340 from Radisson to Hafford, then east to Blaine Lake, and then south on Highway 12 to Saskatoon. Large transport trucks were still being allowed on the eastbound lanes of Highway 16, but were forced to drive very slowly because of the high water levels.
Highway 340 between Radisson and Hafford was also reported to have patches of water flowing across it, forcing traffic to travel slowly as well.

BORDEN READY
Saunders said the RM of Great Bend, the Town of Radisson and the Village of Borden have all cooperated closely to share resources and manage the crisis. While the worst of the flooding in Radisson now appears to be over, it’s still a serious situation for Borden and the rest of the RM of Great Bend.

Massive pumps have been going 24 hours a day in the Village of Borden to keep water moving

“We have five big pumps going flat-out in Borden twenty-four hours a day,” said Saunders. “These pumps were brought in from Fort McMurray, Alberta, and they move an unbelievable amount of water every hour through 12 and 18 inch pipes.”
The flood measures already in place in Borden should be able to handle the fresh surge of floodwater when it comes, said Saunders.
“The sandbags are still in place, the ditches and pumps are in place,” he said. “Right now it’s a matter of keeping the water levels down and keeping the water flowing, and waiting for the new wave to hit.”
Temporary bridges have been installed in Borden. A wooden pedestrian bridge spans a ditch down the middle of the intersection of Baltimore Street and Second Avenue, while a 60-foot steel span has been laid across a raging current that cuts through Grid Road 685. The temporary bridge is wide enough to handle single-lane traffic.
“We installed the steel bridge span on Saturday after we had to cut the road,” said Saunders. “The problem is that this is one of the main access roads for Borden, and we need to be able to get emergency vehicles through if necessary.”

RM ROADS HARD HIT
Saunders said there are over 30 washed-out roads, or places where roads have been cut to allow water to flow, right across the RM of Great Bend.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “We’ve never had this kind of situation before. We’ve been able to repair some of them, but new washouts occur every day.”
Saunders said while the situation is still serious, it is also relatively stable, at least for the time being.
“The biggest problem we have is that our volunteers and emergency measures committee people are starting to get burned out,” he said. “It’s been a long grind. But overall, spirits are still pretty high, and we have things under control.”
The RM has also issued a fire ban throughout the municipality to prevent the possibility of wildfires starting in areas that firefighters are not able to access because of impassible roads.