The last month has been one of the wettest Julys in Drumheller’s recent memory, and unseasonably heavy rain earlier this week had many residents reporting flooding in their basements and yards.
Infrastructure director Al Kendrick said flooding has been particularly affecting residents in the Riverside Drive area. The water lines bottleneck around 11 Street East as two mains meet there before being piped to 19 Street East, which was also over capacity, where it flows to the water treatment plant east of Drumheller.
“Our storm system only handles so much and only so much can get down those grates… you get a certain amount of storm activity and when the streets flood it gets through the steel on top of the manhole lids and through the cracks in the asphalt. You can have significant flow coming at you just through infiltration – we fix it as we go,” Kendrick said.
He said town vacuum trucks were pumping and hauling water from flooded areas to the water treatment lagoon beginning early Wednesday, August 3, as Drumheller was washed with 53 mm of rain throughout the day according to Alberta Agriculture.
In total, 145 mm of rain fell in Drumheller over the month of July. The monthly average is 64 mm.
“We had some issues with people getting water in their basements through window wells and through any cracks in the foundation. It’s been a whole host of things over the last couple of days and the staff have been busy doing whatever they can to relieve most of the situation,” Kendrick said.
Megan McLauchlin said the basement in her home on 11 Street East and Riverside Drive was flooded with 12 gallons of sewer backup on Wednesday, August 3, even after her family had purchased a main line backwater valve to protect from backups after it flooded four inches after a storm on July 1. It damaged drywall and appliances in their finished basement and she has since been dealing with insurance to cover the expense.
“I’m sick to my stomach because we finished putting in this expensive valve and cleaning the basement and it happened again within a month – it’s scary,” said McLauchlin.
Kendrick said this last month of rainy weather was something town infrastructure services hasn’t seen in some time.
“I had two to three inches in my own yard, and I haven’t seen that in forever and a day. You’d see it in the spring but never see it in a summer storm,” said Kendrick.
Soil can only absorb so much moisture and water has to run somewhere if it’s not retained, he said.
Flooding after unexpected rains is compounded by human activity, he said.
“As more lots are being paved there is less absorption through the ground and it’s got to go somewhere.”
“In any areas subject to overland flooding we do our best to try and reduce vent holes on top of the steel, trying to be proactive the best we can with Mother Nature. But we never know what will be thrown at us.”
