Borden is finally starting to get back to normal somewhat after the most harrowing week of trying to keep the village from being flooded by Shepard Creek that comes in from the south under the railway and Highway 16, then flows around the north end of town, through the culvert on 2nd Avenue and meanders east past the lagoon and eventually to the river.
The water comes from Radisson, and prior to that from Fielding, and flows through our pasture land south of our yard west of Borden. I have lived here for 54 years and my ancestors before that and the water has never been as high as it is this year.
The Village of Borden has been overflowing with helpers this past week with the Borden firefighters along with EMO officials co-ordinating the effort. They, along with the different groups looking after feeding up to 250-300 people a day, have done a tremendous job. There has been help coming in from all the surrounding communities and Saskatoon. A vast amount of food has come in from many towns, villages, RMs and from grocery stores and businesses in the communities and Saskatoon.
Busloads of students have come from Perdue, Hepburn, from youth groups, Urban Camp Detention Centre and especially the Grade 7 - 12 students and staff from Borden School who volunteered from Tuesday to Friday filling sandbags and placing them around homes along Shepard Creek. In total over 55,000 sandbags were filled and placed on pallets, hauled to sites or piled by the fire hall or on flatbeds ready to go if needed.
They had to trench out 2nd Avenue by Baltimore Street to let the water go faster along with eight pumps working at full bore for the last six days. The road east of town was taken out and a temporary bridge brought in so people along 2nd Avenue and the acreages plus all the rural families could get into the village. There are now two big pumps also working south of the railway tracks to divert water to the east along the rail line to the river, which is causing the water level to subside around Borden.
The community centre has been the food and rest area and is open 24 hours a day, serving three meals and snacks and beverages. The Salvation Army and Red Cross have been out a few times with supplies.
As of right now there has been water damage to four homes, with three families evacuated.
CN, SaskEnergy and SaskPower have been around all week monitoring everything. The gas on the south side of the tracks is off, affecting four homes, including ours but we are hooked up to a portable tank so we have gas.
The RM and village office has also been open 24 hours a day with volunteers on the phones day and night. There are people on site all night watching the water level. The pumps and the health centre stayed open all weekend in case of injuries or emergencies.
In the RM of Great Bend there are up to 17 roads either washed out, dug out or impassable with water running over them. They will be busy all summer rebuilding these washouts and putting in culverts. Two roads in the village will also need repair.
A great big thank you to everyone who came to help, who brought or sent food, all the baking that came in, the groups from other towns or Saskatoon who supplied some of the meals, the Borden Lions for the breakfasts, and a tremendous thanks to the food and meal co-ordinators Denise Nichol, Elizabeth Derksen, Kendall Redhead and their committee.
The Borden Farmers' Market will again be postponed until Friday, May 17, as there are hundreds of sandbags stacked around the fire hall and the firefighters and town maintenance crew have done so much this past week or more that we do not want them to have to do anything that entails more work for them. A tremendous thanks go to the local firefighters as they have been on duty 24 hours a day overseeing that the village and surrounding RM did not have worse flooding.
Radisson cleanup day was May 7 and Borden people are going to help. The Borden cleanup day is possibly May 11 and Radisson will come and help.
The Borden Co-op supper and annual meeting slated for May 8 was postponed until next week.
The Borden Lions' Mother's Day Brunch, for diabetes, is Sunday, May 11 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. in Borden Hall.
