Cruising around flooded streets: a jerk move?

Some Saskatchewan mayors are speaking out against people driving around unnecessarily when streets are flooded —saying it's just pushing more water into people's basements.

After getting 130 millimetres of rain earlier this week, the city of Estevan ended up with numerous basements flooded and many residential streets filled with water.

The worst of that was, people driving in those flooded streets without regard to the people in the houses and putting more water in their basements.- Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig

Some homeowners had a metre of water in their homes. Some worked through the night doing everything they could to keep more from getting in.

Emergency officials urged people to stay away from these streets at the height of the flood, but some were out anyway, according to Mayor Roy Ludwig.

"We had quite a few streets flooded ... and of course the worst of that was, people driving in those flooded streets without regard to the people in the houses and putting more water in their basements," Ludwig said. "It's always a very frustrating issue."

There was an similar situation in the town of Carrot River, which also declared a state of emergency earlier in the week.

"We had a number of streets where it was just like a river flowing," Mayor Bob Gagne said. "Unfortunately, we did see a lot of people out. They weren't helping the matter with driving their vehicles up and down in the water."

Since Tuesday, water has subsided from the flooded streets, but the cleanup is just getting underway.

Carrot River has now been approved for provincial disaster assistance, according to the town website.

The town is also encouraging property owners and renters who have experienced damage due to flood or sewer back up to contact their insurance agents immediately.