Saskatoon flood damage keeps crews, restoration companies busy after rain

The heavy rainfall over the long weekend across the province – with Saskatoon receiving upwards of 80 millimetres, according to the City of Saskatoon – prompted flood responses and infrastructure concerns Tuesday morning.

In a statement on Tuesday, the City of Saskatoon said it is monitoring flood conditions in the city “very closely” as “the city’s infrastructure continues to keep up with yesterday’s flood water.”

Crews in Saskatoon dealt with several issues since Monday’s heavy rainfall, including popped manhole covers and flooded intersections.

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The city said its system will need several days to recover from Monday’s rain. With the possibility of more rain on the way in Saskatoon this week, the city is asking residents to reduce their use of washing machines and dishwashers, and to flush toilets only when necessary.

The Saskatoon Field House is closed on Tuesday, also, due to water seepage. All other leisure facilities remain open under normal operating hours.

The city said the dry storm ponds in Churchill, Weaver and W.W. Ashley parks, which serve to hold water that could otherwise cause flooding, worked as intended.

According to Environment Canada early Tuesday morning, the southern part of the province was hit hardest by the weekend’s weather, but rainfall warnings were issued across many areas.

“In the southeast, it was more like thunderstorms with the heavy rain, and then through Saskatoon and the northern grain belt, it was more that steady, heavy, heavy convective showers. But in general, (about) 30 to 50 millimetres throughout all of southern Saskatchewan,” said Shannon Moodie, a meteorologist from Environment Canada.

The province’s major cities were also dealing with an excessive amount of rainfall. As of Monday morning, Regina had recorded 53.5 millimetres, while Saskatoon had received 50.6 millimetres.

Rainfall brings windfall for restoration companies

Phones have been ringing “off the hook” since Monday afternoon for restoration companies in Saskatoon.

Rainbow Restoration of Saskatoon senior estimator Terry Norman said it’s the second time this year the company has been this busy.

The first time was after a heavy rainfall in the spring.

“Phones haven’t stopped ringing since 3 o’clock yesterday,” Norman said Tuesday morning. He said the company’s workers have only briefly slept in the midst of the busyness.

Basement flooding and roof leaks are the main work the company is responding to — issues that he said can range from $5,000 to $20,000 to fix.

“Basically, a lot of people should be contacting their insurance company right away,” Norman advised.

“Not everyone has coverage for overland flooding and stuff, so also make sure if it’s coming up through your sewer drain.”

Neither Norman or Jeff Sereda, co-owner of DKI Saskatoon Disaster Services, could estimate the number of calls they’ve received since the major weekend rainfall.

“My phone’s ringing right now on the other line as we’re talking here, all afternoon, yesterday, throughout the night, this morning,” Sereda said.

DKI has been receiving calls from across Saskatoon and central Saskatchewan.

“We literally have two people, plus myself, on the phones going steady, just putting people on a callback list when we can attend and get to them as soon as we can,” Sereda said, describing the high demand for service on Tuesday morning.

“We’re getting mostly water coming in through seepage, which would be coming in through window wells or through the foundation. But given the heavy rainfall, there was definitely a lot of roof leaks that people are finding that they now have,” Sereda explained.

He said DKI crews are out all over Saskatoon but mostly concentrated in the north end, where there was a lot of water damage in commercial and residential areas.

“Just with the high flow and the water rushing,” Sereda said. “It was going into commercial buildings and flooding, you know, flooding places that haven’t flooded before this year, unfortunately.”

Sereda also compared the demand after this weekend’s rainfall to one other earlier rainfall in the season, due to the large influx of water that “people aren’t necessarily able to deal with in a short period of time.

“It’s really testing everybody’s sump pumps and different ways that they haven’t found water come in before,” he said.

These times, though challenging, are always appreciated as a time when his company can help people, Sereda said.

“The unfortunate part is when they call and we put them on a list. That’s not the answer that they want to hear, and it’s not the answer that I want to give them,” he shared, “but we’re helping as many people as we can, and we’re doing it as quick as possible, as well.”

When calling DKI, Sereda said they’ll always ask clients where the water is coming from and the source, whether it’s groundwater or sewer backup. He said that helps crews plan accordingly and allows them to give advice to prevent any harm or the spreading of contaminants through a home or other areas of a building that weren’t already affected.

“That’s super important, right off the start, to understand where the water has come from,” he explained.

Sereda applauded his staff for their “amazing” response over the past 24 hours to calls that have required them to step away from their families and commitments over the long weekend and through the night.

Saskatchewan rainfall totals high in 36-hour summary: Environment Canada

Environment and Climate Change Canada has released its rainfall summary after a low-pressure system hit Saskatchewan on Sunday and Monday.

The weather system brought “significant rainfall” to some regions, according to the weather office.

Environment Canada said its sources for rain fall totals included Manitoba Agriculture stations, Manitoba fire weather stations, ECCC automatic weather stations and volunteer weather observers.

Saskatoon recorded 56 millimetres of rainfall, while Regina had 54.6 mm, according to Environment Canada.

The highest rainfall in the province was recorded in Lucky Lake, with 79.4 mm of rainfall received. Elbow and Yellow Grass each recorded just above 73 mm.

Nipawin (68.9 mm) and Melfort (64.1 mm) were the next highest-recorded amounts of long-weekend rain totals, followed by Rockglen (59.4 mm), Indian Head (58.2 mm), Watrous (57.4 mm), Last Mountain (57.2 mm), Bratts Lake (52.5 mm), Cypress Hills (46.7 mm), Maple Creek (46.6 mm), Assiniboia (41.8 mm) and Cypress Hills (40 mm).

Environment Canada noted that the summary might contain “preliminary or unofficial information that does not constitute a complete or final report.”

–with files from 650 CKOM’s Libby Gray and 980 CJME’s Abby Zieverink