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Estevan cleaning up after flash flooding Sunday

By Adriana Christianson Jul 11, 2016 | 6:29 AM

The City of Estevan is under a state of emergency after heavy rain caused flash flooding backing up storm sewers on streets and filling basements Sunday.

At least 125 millimetres or about 5 inches of rain fell in the southeast city on Sunday afternoon in about a two hour period. Most roads and basements flooded within minutes of the downpour and the forecast says it’s supposed to rain for the next three days straight.

Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig describes the rain as intense.

“We had power lines down, branches, lots of water, lots of streets flooded, and unfortunately we had vehicles – of course you always have vehicles driving through the flooded streets which make it worse,” he said.

He says city crews worked well into the night on Sunday to clear storm sewers and drain water away from streets.

“For the most part, most of the streets, the flooding has gone down, I think we have one or two yet that are still receding,” he told the CJME Morning show on Monday.

He noted that there is a concern that some people may have to be evacuated if the rain continues Monday and Tuesday.

“So far that rain has held off, but hopefully it will continue to hold off and in the interim we have a lot of flooded basements to deal with,” Ludwig said.

Environment Canada meteorologist Jason Knight says the weather is not over yet.

“Very unsettled, unfortunately for them, there’s light showers this morning, but more thunderstorms moving through the area this afternoon and rain moving in tonight,” he said on Monday. “We could see some local accumulations, it’s hard to tell from the thunderstorms this afternoon, but certainly they’re looking at another 25 millimetres beginning tonight and into Wednesday morning.”

The weather system has also led to heavy rainfall warnings covering most of southern and central Saskatchewan.

The southeast is still under a special weather statement because any further rain could cause damage to the water-logged city.

Recovery efforts are underway in Estevan, as the province continues to track storm systems from Assiniboia to Prince Albert.

Duane MacKay, the commissioner of emergency management for the province, spoke to media in Saskatoon about the situation in Estevan Monday.

“We did see a trailer court having to be evacuated. A little bit of trouble with flooded streets; however, overall, the community responded very well,” MacKay said.

He said one or two families were forced to stay in a hotel, and added crews attended to four structure fires in the city caused by flooded electrical panels.

A provincial emergency services manager was sent to help in the southeast Saskatchewan city Sunday night.

Saskatchewan Red Cross has also delivered 300 cleanup kits to the area.

MacKay said the province is ready to deploy flood equipment –such as barriers, sand bags and trucks –stored from previous years to communities as needed.

Take a look at some of the videos and photos posted on social media showing the flooding in Estevan.

 

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