As the flood water from Wascana Creek and other waterways continues to pour into the Qu'Appelle Valley, residents there continue to fight a desperate battle to save their homes.
Neighbours and residents all along Echo Lake watch in disbelief as the water continues to rise. Some say close to six inches of water rose on Friday alone.
Steve Helfrick lives in the area, and is trying to save his house. "It took us by surprise, we had some breaches in our sand bag wall so both my wife and I have been up there for 48 hours straight just spelling each other off to see if there is going to be a problem."
Helfrick says they are up at least four feet from their normal summer lake levels already, and it isn't expected to crest until late Saturday. But still, neighbours, relatives, and strangers work together and continue to fill sand bags and pump water, in the hope they can hold the lake back.
"I don't think it matters where the water stabilizes," said Helfrick. "I don't think it's going to go into the house, just going to fill the crawl space."
But Helfrick and his crew must stay on high alert. Just minutes after saying he wasn't overly concerned, another breach on his sand bag wall, and the water moved even closer to his house
Darryl Hamilton lives near Helfrick, and is helping out his neighbor. "They're in deep trouble, they got some pumps and as long as the wall doesn't cave in they might win and of course the water levels got to drop around here soon."
But they aren't giving up yet; crews continue to fight hard against the water. But Helfrick says there is still one major factor that hasn't even come into play.
"It doesn't matter what we do here today... If the ice comes in we're finished."
