Many homes lost to flooding in Nelles Township area

Ken Johnston
Editor

They truly needed an ark in Nelles Township north of Pinewood during the flood from June 11-14, 2002.
Jason Lilley and his neighbours, Lad and Betty Vargyas had to row a boat four miles from their homesteads to Johnson Road to get out when the flood waters overtook their homes June 11th.
Lilley said that they were okay Monday night but by 4 a.m. the water had come up to their front step. It was only a matter of a few hours and the flood waters were 7-8 feet deep in places.
Gouliquer Road was Gouliquer Lake and remained as such until the end of the week.
On Tuesday a half-ton truck at Vargyas’ was all but one foot of the cab under water. The next day Lilley and company drove a motorized boat over that half-ton. “It came up so fast and went down just about as quickly,” said Lilley.
Lilley said there were 11 homes submerged under water by Tuesday afternoon and said that Wade and Kim Desserre had at least two feet of water above the main floor of their home. “None of the homes are livable,” said Lilley who is now living in a motor-home on his property.
Livestock losses were minimal. However he noted that they had to take feed in to the cows who were standing on higher ground with only their head and neck above water.
By Thursday the water had dropped enough that they could go in and rescue livestock. “We went in by boat but had to get out to get the boat over Gouliquer Road as there was only 8 inches of water left on it.” By Friday they were back into their property but all 11 homes are pretty much written off.
As far as Lilley knows they will be eligible for disaster relief but that will take time. For now some people have moved trailers in to live temporarily.
“We are thankful there was no loss of life and would like to offer many thanks to all the communities that have helped us clean up our homesteads,” concluded Lilley.