Mandatory evacuation partially lifted in Arborfield, Sask.

The mandatory evacuation of the flood-hitSaskatchewan town ofArborfieldhas been partially lifted.

Residents in unaffected areas are nowallowed to return homeas 30 per cent of gas was restored to the community.

Rain continuedto beat down on the evacuated village on Wednesday morning asrescue crews beganthe difficult task of cleaning up inundated homes.

• 'People just do': Sask. small towns step up to help flood evacuees
• PHOTOS: Saskatchewan town of Arborfield evacuated due to flooding

A team of 16 provincial officials are in Arborfieldto help the community co-ordinate the cleanup effort.

Huge grain bins have toppled over,cars are in water up to their bumpersand some backyards have been completely flooded.

Canada Post announced Wednesday morning that it had temporarily suspended mail delivery to Arborfield due to the flooding.

Confronting the damage

Arborfield resident Ryan Thompson fought back tears as he described the damage to his home, which has water a half-metre deep inside.

"You go home, you don't even know if you've got clean underwear 'cause it was in your bottom drawer," he said.

"That's stuff we take for granted but that's the reality of it."

Thompson, who lives in the worst-affected east side of the town, said it was not the first time his home had been flooded.

But he was confident the town, which he describes as an awesome community, will bounce back from the flood.

"We're fighters, we're grateful for all the help and we'll survive," said Thompson.

Optimism shines through

ArborfieldresidentCynthiaProskosaid she was one of the lucky ones, with about 20 centimetresof water filling her basement.

Some of her friends have been less fortunate, with extensive damage to their homes, but Prosko said the community would support those residents who were hardest hit.

"Everybody will help everybody else out there, you know, we are a family," she said.

"It's not so much a community, it's just one big family and so I'm pretty confident that, apart from the insurance, of course, that everybody will be OK."

Pumps keep running

In Carrot River, where a local state of emergency was also declared, water wasstill being pumped from the streets thismorning. Thelocal sewage system was inundated, surprising emergency crews who thought the flooding was under control.

Fire Chief Scott Debienne said it was the worst flooding he had seen during his 30 years in the community, which is about 25 kilometres north of Arborfield.

"We were quite bad, because the streets just kept flooding," said Debienne.

"We thought we had a handle on it on Monday night and Tuesday around dinner time the street just started to fill right up again and we just had to rev all our pumps back up and try and gain on it."

Moving forward

Residents of Carrot River are being asked not to do laundry or wash dishes to help ease the pressure on the over-capacity sewage system.

• 'A disgusting mess': State of emergency declared in Estevan, Sask., after heavy rainfall

States of emergency have also been declared in the communities ofEstevan, Shoal Lake and the Rural Municipality of Arborfield.

Thecleanup effort in Estevan, which isabout 200 kilometres southeast of Regina, started on Monday after the community received 130 millimetres of rain on Sunday.

According to the government of Saskatchewan, the situation is improving overall, although Burntout Brook and the Pasqua River are at record high levels

About 300 people have contacted Saskatchewan's Provincial Disaster Assistance Program.