‘Calls haven’t stopped’: Restoration crew swamped as flooding hits southeast Sask.

As residents across southeast Saskatchewan begin the long process of cleaning up after recent storms, a disaster restoration company say they’re struggling to keep pace with the overwhelming demand for help.

Mike Payne,  sales and marketing manager for Restorex Disaster Restoration, said phones have been ringing off the hook from homeowners dealing with flooded basements and water damage.

“It’s basically been nonstop” Payne said “Our branch in the Melville Yorkton area, they’ve been fielding probably a call every 15 minutes.”

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He said with the workload they have, his crew can’t get to everyone immediately.

“We’d love to be in everybody’s home today and helping them and supporting them as soon as possible, but unfortunately, (with) the amount of claims that we’re receiving, it’s just somewhat impossible,” Payne admitted.

Payne said communities like Melville, Yorkton, Esterhazy, Kipling, Grenfell and Stockholm have all been affected, with water overwhelming drainage systems and flooding homes.

“The town systems just can’t keep up with the amount of water that’s been coming into them,” he said.

Payne said there has been a lot of overland flooding coming through people’s window wells into the basement, and with water causing sewer backups.

“Any way that the water can back up, it’s going to find a way to get into your basement,” he said.

Although there hasn’t been any sign of mould yet, Payne said they’ve been working on getting water out of people’s basements.

“The problem with pumping the water out is there’s really not a lot of places to pump the water, because the water goes back outside, and then comes back into the home again,” he said.

In terms of preventing further damage, Payne said people should try and keep as much water outside of their homes as possible.

“Make sure your grading from your home foundation is away from your home, so it pushes the water away,” he explained. “Downspouts from your eavestrough, extensions on your eavestrough (and) make sure (they) are clear of debris.”

Payne added that people should take pictures and inspect their basements if they can do so safely.

“Try to remediate or save any of your contents as possible, and then, if it gets to a point where you can start doing some of your own demolition, removing carpets and stuff like that if you can’t get a hold of a restoration company,” he said.

When it comes to insurance claims, Payne suggested people should be on the phone to their providers right away, but warned those phone lines will be just as busy as his restoration crew has.

“They’re (insurance companies) not just dealing with water issues, they’re also dealing with wind issues. There’s going to be lots of shingles, lots of other structural damage caused by the wind, so the insurance companies are going to be some busy for the foreseeable future,” Payne said.

With severe storms expecting to continue into the night, Payne expected that the work is only beginning.

“We’re just asking folks for a little bit of patience and a little bit of foresight on their part to kind of do some restoration on their own, and we’ll be out there to support as soon as possible,” he said.