Winnipeg pummeled by intense storm

WINNIPEG – An incredibly intense storm rolled through Winnipeg early Saturday.

The sky was so dark, street lamps around the city flickered on around noon.

The rain began to pummel the streets around 11 a.m. and was so intense it lead to overland flooding.

Drivers were left with extremely low visibility and deep deluges of water.

There was more than a foot of water that collected at the Jubilee Underpass, making for a very slow commute for drivers.

Global News viewers sent in photos from around the city showing flooded streets including Route 90 and Henderson Highway.

Manitoba Hydro crews are busy around the city dealing with lightning strikes that have caused power outages and numerous hydro poles caught fire.

Hydro said roughly 4,000 customers around Winnipeg were without power Saturday afternoon. Most of those outages were in Transcona and St. Boniface.

The outages were due to lightning and tree contacts with power lines. There was no word on when power would be restored.

The City of Winnipeg said some of its operations had been affected by the storm as well.

All available wastewater field crews are working on rain related service requests. Some regularly planned work may be deferred as crews deal with rain related issues.

As of 1:15 Saturday afternoon the city had received numerous reports of problems due to the rain.

1 – manhole covers ajar/off

7 – catch basin plugged – back lane

37 – catch basin plugged – front street

6 – sewer back up – clean

1 – sewer back up – raw sewage

0 – basement flooding