The Mayor for Ritchot says damage from this spring's flood will be in the millions of dollars in his municipality.
The Red River crested last Friday at both Ste. Agathe and St. Adolphe. Since then, the river has continued to drop.
"Water is receding, which we are very grateful for," says Chris Ewen.
But, Ewen says that only means there is a lot of hard work ahead. And, not only a lot of work but a lot of money that will be spent on those cleanup costs. In fact, Ewen says they already know they are staring at more than $1 million in flood damages in Ritchot alone. And, he says that number could very easily become $2 million.
"This is a significant disaster that we've seen in Ritchot," says Ewen. "A lot of infrastructure repair, a lot of residents that are still needing help with sandbagging or removing of sandbags, cleaning up the debris."
Ewen says because the waters are still so high, they do not know the extent of the damage underneath. He says he is extremely thankful that our province has announced a Disaster Financial Assistance program to assist with the costs.
Ewen says as Mayor, he was proud, yet humbled to see residents helping their neighbours prepare for the flood. Now he says, more than ever, they need volunteers to assist with the cleanup.
"There is going to be a lot of cleanup for our residents," he points out. "They are tired, they are exhausted from the flood. We need to help them as best as possible, so if someone or anyone can volunteer thirty minutes of their time once, would be more than enough."
Anyone willing to help with the cleanup is asked to call the volunteer helpline at 204-297-0794.
According to Ewen, there were 232 evacuation notices served in Ritchot, with 107 homes evacuated.