I am sure most in Canada have heard about the flooding situation in SE Saskatchewan, but I am sure many have no idea just how bad it is. I just received a phone call from Stoughton(North of Estevan) and they got just under 5 inches of rain yesterday alone, with more expected today. This brings their total to close to 10 inches of rain from Thursday through yesterday! That is about all they are supposed to get all spring and if you add that to what was a very high run off from the spring melt and well above normal precipitation this spring it has developed into a world class flood situation.
All activity in the area is at a stand still because people simply cannot work. Farmers didn't get to put in crops, oil companies haven't been able to drill since break up in March and service companies cannot get to well sights to service the oil wells. What does this all mean? It is going to be a hard year for those in the area, not just the people who work in these industries but also those who own businesses in the area. It will be a tough year but hopefully it will dry up for next year and they will again be rolling along like they were up until spring.
Premier Brad Wall has seen the situation first hand and has promised immediate help for those affected. The Red Cross is inundated with people needing assistance and places to stay.
Making matters worse today is the fact that 400 SGEU members with the Crop Insurance Corp. have gone on strike. Bob Bymoen has once again shown what he is made of by putting his union on strike just when they are needed most. He did so in 2007, in the face of a large blizzard he pulled all of his unionized road maintenance crews off the job. I think it is time for Saskatchewan residents to say enough is enough with the politics of unions and look to break them once and for all. Back to work legislation, and then introduce right to work legislation is how I would play this out if I were the Sask Party. I believe that the Saskatchewan residents on majority would support this move, they are tired of the same union B.S. that keeps happening and threatening this great province.
Making matters worse today is the fact that 400 SGEU members with the Crop Insurance Corp. have gone on strike. Bob Bymoen has once again shown what he is made of by putting his union on strike just when they are needed most. He did so in 2007, in the face of a large blizzard he pulled all of his unionized road maintenance crews off the job. I think it is time for Saskatchewan residents to say enough is enough with the politics of unions and look to break them once and for all. Back to work legislation, and then introduce right to work legislation is how I would play this out if I were the Sask Party. I believe that the Saskatchewan residents on majority would support this move, they are tired of the same union B.S. that keeps happening and threatening this great province.
You know there has been severe flooding occurring in southern Manitoba since early May that still hasn't cleared up but everyone has stopped talking about it. Many farmers in Manitoba didn't get their crops in and some farmers were actually intentionally flooded by the government.
ReplyDeleteYes, the situation in Manitoba isn't much better. I used to live in Brandon and never saw flooding like that. I was coming back from the U.S. and intentionally went by the SW corner of the province back in 1998 or 1999 when there was a huge amount of flooding and I have to say I have never seen anything quite like it. Water as far as the eye can see.
ReplyDeleteThey have had to release water from the dams here as well, flooding a whole village with water and hundreds of thousands of acres of farm land. It is too bad that they never took this kind of situation into account when they built these dams. I don't know what the cure is, dredging them deeper or just extending them, but something has to be done. The flooding in Manitoba, North Dakota and Minnesota to some extent seems to happen every year. At least the situation here in Saskatchewan is being labelled a once in 500 year event. But still some more money needs to go into these dams to give them the ability to hold back more water and then release in the summer and fall when things are drier downstream.