'People just do': Sask. small towns step up to help flood evacuees

Amid all the flooded streets, damaged property, and back-breaking work to fill sandbags, there are uplifting stories of Saskatchewan's small town hospitality.

On Tuesday, a mandatory evacuation was ordered for the town of Arborfield, Sask., after heavy rain and flooding hammered the area.

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Arborfield, which is about 160 kilometres east of Prince Albert, is a community of about 400 people.

It's just really nice to live in a place where you can count on your neighbours.- Muriel Marcotte-April

A road almost 13 kilometres south of the community was broken open with a breach nearly thirty metres wide. The road, according to the province, normally holds back water that stretches for more than one and half kilometres.

As people were forced to leave their homes, residents of nearby Zenon Park stepped up.

Muriel Marcotte-April, who lives in Zenon Park, said she got word about a possible evacuation order in Arborfield on Tuesday afternoon.

"We had been kind of watching it since yesterday [Monday] because we knew it was getting bad," Marcotte-April said. "But this afternoon, we heard that they were being evacuated, so people showed up to help."

For Marcotte-April, helping her neighbours was more instinct than thought.

"It's kind of what happens in small towns. People just do," she said, laughing. 

Wet, sleepless nights

Marcotte-April was one of the people setting up food and shelter at the Zenon Park arena for evacuees Tuesday afternoon.

They stayed open all night for anyone who needed help — especially people who were working all night to fight the flooding.

"They're cold and wet and they need some food," Marcotte-April said. "I think most of them didn't sleep much [Monday] night because this has been ongoing. And so a lot of them are very tired."

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Marcotte-April said she believed a lot of people impacted by the floods were initially confused because everything happened so quickly.

"You don't have even time to think about what you need to bring with you or where you're going or for how long or anything else," she said. "So there's a lot of confusion."

Marcotte-April believes everyone will be fine once the first few hectic days are over. She said the people she talked to were "very hopeful" despite some sleepless nights.

"They're not giving up yet. But I think also that people know that they're going to have help from their neighbours. So there's a lot of good community spirit," Marcotte-April said.

"It's just really nice to live in a place where you can count on your neighbours and you know that the communities around you are there for you."