Yorkton residents celebrated Canada's 143rd Birthday under water. We had over 5" of rain fall in less than an hour, and more rain followed. Wind gusts uprooted trees and blew roofs off of houses. Hail stones fell that were up to the size of golf balls. Power outages affected many areas of the city, so sump pumps and shop vacs could not operate, which compounded water problems. Streets were closed due to water levels. Stalled cars and fallen trees scattered the streets. A state of emergency was declared and many residents had to evacuate. An estimated 75 homes are inhabitable (some homes had water fill their basements and rise into their main floor. I have never seen water levels rise so high that basement windows are completely covered by water. Most residents have spent the last four days cleaning up debris and pumping water out of their basements and yards. Businesses are closed and don't expect to be open for business for months. And good luck to anyone trying to get a call through to their insurance company, or trying to purchase a sump pump, shop vac or dehumidifier. Our home suffered only minor damage compared to many others in the city. My heart goes out to those who have lost everything.
