Residents pitch in as flood waters rise in their neighbourhoods
Linda Erker said the water was up to her hips as she was trying to clear street drains of debris near her Exhibition home after a severe thunderstorm Monday caused flooding in several Saskatoon intersections.
With water rising “very fast,” Erker was one of several people who had ventured into the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Adelaide Street East in the city’s Exhibition neighbourhood to try and get the water flowing normally, as parts of the city received upwards of 45 millimetres of rain.
“It was pretty scary,” said the 20year resident.
Standing in front of her house less than 24 hours after the storm, Erker said water on her street had surpassed the exhaust pipes on some cars in the area and started to reach the wheel wells.
“It was just rising, rising, rising.” Suspecting drains in the area were plugged, Erker said several people worked to clear the debris, and when water started flowing, the pressure was immense.
“It was like whirlpool,” she said, stressing she wasn’t alone in her efforts. “At times like this everybody just comes out and helps one another.”
Placing debris into a garbage bag outside of his house, Mark Livedotte was one of the people working alongside Erker to clear debris. Putting on his hip waders, which were still drying on Tuesday morning, he said the situation unfolded quickly.
“I dug right in there because the drains were clogging up so fast,” he said. With some of his neighbours retired Livedotte said he was “gung-ho” to help. While the water reached his backyard, his house was spared from flooding.
Others on Adelaide Street saw the storm as an opportunity to have some fun.
Hauling out their canoe and paddling through the flooded street, Ron Smeding and his son Nathaniel said their short paddle was an interesting experience, but stressed they understand some in the city were negatively affected by the storm.
“It was fun,” said Ron, noting they were passing neighbours on the street. “We had an audience.”
Noting the idea to bring the canoe out was his wife’s suggestion, Ron said the watercraft “was handy” as it had yet to be put away into the rafters of the garage.
Videos of their trip have now been viewed thousands of times, which came as a surprise for Ron, but not for his son.
“It’s everywhere now,” said Ron of the video.
For some like Pius Gartner, who lives in Saskatoon’s Avalon neighbourhood, the severe weather caused damage to his basement. He said water was 10 inches past his home’s back door on Dufferin Avenue and eventually backed up into his basement through his toilet, his shower and his main water drain.
“The sewers couldn’t handle it,” he said, describing the smell as “horrible.”
While he’s been getting assistance with cleanup from Winmar Property Restoration and has already been in contact with his insurance company he said he was still waiting to for the City of Saskatoon to unplug his drains on Tuesday, adding the city has done little to address the issue since he experienced similar flooding roughly seven years ago. “This time is worse,” he said. Another area hit hard on Monday was the intersection of Confederation and Laurier drives.
Ken Kishayinew said he was watching with interest as the water approached his home, as he moved into the property just a month ago and has yet to get insurance.
He said he saw roughly six cars stall in the nearby intersection.
“Every time big trucks drove by, the waves just kept pushing the water higher and higher,” he said, adding: “I even asked the fire department when they walked by here if they had sandbags just in case we needed them, but they didn’t have any.”
Nearby neighbour, Mandy Ethier, said she’s no stranger to the issue, noting as a 10-year resident, she’s seen the intersection flood numerous times.
She said she never understood why people continue to try to pass the intersection when other cars have failed.
“We always have a couple of people who think they can make it,” she said.