Yorkton still mopping up after flood

Yorkton residents are continuing to mop up almost a week after heavy rain inundated 1,000 basements, forced 175 people from their homes, and seriously damaged more than 20 local businesses.

Many businesses have been forced to shut their doors or reduce hours because of the flood which caused a local emergency in the city of 15,000 people about 190 kilometres northeast of Regina.

Mark Butchko, who owns the local Dairy Queen, said he may have to rebuild. "With the sewer being so bad within the store are [customers] still going to feel safe coming here? I think unfortunately we're just going to bulldoze it down and rebuild."

Butchko says if he has to he'll pay his employees out of his own pocket while he waits on the status of his insurance claim.

Phil Devos of the Yorkton Business Improvement District said not every business affected by the flood carried business interruption insurance.

But at least 60 insurance adjusters from across the prairies have arrived in Yorkton in the past few days to record damage and help settle claims for home owners and business owners.

The main McDonalds restaurant in the town remains closed and manager Dean Shyaik said there's a lot of work to be done before the location will be serving Happy Meals again.

"I have zero idea at this point in time when we are going to be open," said Shyaik. "It's going through a complete transformation."

Down the street, manager Wayne Mitchell of Kee's Taekwondo said the building needs basement repairs. Hes hoping that can be done in time for classes to start up in less than a week.

But he was having trouble finding contractors even before the flood and now he has had to contact a plumber in Winnipeg to do the basement repairs.

"There's just no way we can find the workers around here," he said.