Vehicles traverse huge pools of water at the intersection of Division Avenue and Sixth Street SE on Thursday night after debris plugged storm sewers in the area for the second time in a month. - News Photo Collin Gallant
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An afternoon deluge on Thursday once again caused localized flooding but city road officials say the storm sewer system performed better than during a similar event in June.
With little aid from city crews, 18 inches of water at some intersections was drained away in relativity short order, about 15 to 20 minutes by city estimates.
“We did have ponding on the roadway, but as soon as the most intense rain passed, the storm system caught up,” said Jeremy Petryshyn, the operations manager with city assets, in charge of roads. “We should be seeing some water pool anyway in these events when the system is at full capacity.”
Medicine Hat motorists and pedestrians were left to navigate deep water at several intersections in the city at about 5:45 p.m. on Thursday as heavy rain and hail lashed the city going north to south.
That caused localized flooding in Crescent Heights and on the South Hill, according to Petryshyn, but the storm apparently lowered in intensity as it crossed the Trans-Canada Highway, and few problems were reported in far south communities.
Lightning caused a garage fire in Dunmore and knocked out power for a time in Redcliff.
City crews and street sweepers performed a sweep of problem areas Thursday night and Friday morning to ensure grates were clear.
In June, Petryshyn said flooding had been caused during a similar cloudburst when a large amount of detritus, lawn clippings, leafs and seed pods that remained on trees over the winter were pounded on by heavy rain and driven onto streets.
That material was then carried down gutters to gather, form mats and block sewer grates.
Petryshyn said much less material was found on grates after Thursday’s storm, as little at 10 per cent, and he hopes the problem is done for the season.
“It wasn’t nearly as bad,” he said.
