WINNIPEG – It came down so fast it took many Winnipeggers off-guard.
45 millimeters of rain fell in just 30 minutes Tuesday morning flooding streets around the city, causing traffic delays and detours.
“One car got stuck in the aftermath of the water, it was pretty deep,” said James Kochie, who was driving down Dawson Road in St. Boniface when traffic had stopped and many motorists began turning around after seeing one car had already stalled in the deep water.
On Chevrier Boulevard, water came up to the doors of cars and the bumper of a transit bus flooding parking lots and flowing into a Manitoba Hydro building. Employees say there was no damage.
And seven, 150 pound or 68 kilogram manhole cover was almost blown off by the shear force of water rushing into the sewer systems.
But almost all the water left just as fast as it came.
Ryan Kelly had to go into almost knee deep water on his street in Southwest Winnipeg to help unplug the drain from debris. City crews were kept busy unclogging 18 drains across the city.
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“Grabbed my rake and come out and start cleaning the garbage out of the sewer drains,” said Kelly.
There were no reports of water in basements but Manitoba Public Insurance says so far 36 water damage claims have been made.
But there was no fun happening at Tinkertown. They were forced to close when water invaded most of the grounds.
“Got here this morning and it was a heck of a storm,” said owner Randy Saluk, who plans to re-open Wednesday.
It was a storm that only took minutes to leave a mess but took hours to clean up.
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