When Bitten Tisdale started hearing strange sounds coming from the basement of her Kelowna, B.C., home Sunday morning, she knew something wasn’t right and went down the stairs to investigate.
“I noticed there was a lot of wetness at the foot of the stairs and then I heard a gurgling sound and I thought, ‘That does not sound good,'” Tisdale told Global News. “Then I realized, the water pipe was spurting water.”
After several calls to companies that were too busy dealing with similar problems, Tisdale finally got plumbing and restoration crews to help.
“It looks like a burst hose bib outside,” said Tobey Gray, who works for Stutters. “So the pipe that connects a the hose bib outside burst and started spraying water. It’s a pretty common occurrence in the cold.”
And that has companies such as Stutters running off their feet.
“We’re very busy right now. We’ve got a lot of phone calls in the last couple of days. The phones have been ringing a lot,” said Stutters vice-president Cameron Stutters. “These cold temperatures have really frozen a lot of indoor plumbing and we’re seeing a lot of breaks and burst pipes that are happening right now.”
The Okanagan Military Museum also got hit after a suspected ice-build-up caused a ceiling leak.
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“We came in at 9 a.m. and there was water coming out of the ceiling and pooling on the floor so naturally it was all hands on deck to move artifacts and display cases and try and contain the water as best as we could,” said Okanagan Military Museum archives assistant Allison Wardle.
Playtime Casino in downtown Kelowna was back up and running Monday but it was temporarily shut down over the weekend after a pipe burst in the kitchen area forcing everyone out.
A burst pipe also forced Monday’s closure of the little Hobo Soup and Sandwich Shop.
In addition, some local schools also reported minor flooding but the biggest impact by far is to Anne McClymont Elementary school where an underground watermain burst Friday night.
The cement just outside the front of the building heaved up and a little artesian well came up and then water was going everywhere until we could get the water shut off, said Kevin Kaardal, superintendent for Central Okanagan Public Schools.
Fortunately damage to the school is said to be minimal but with water now cut off to the building, the school is not safe to operate until that watermain is fixed.
It’s estimated that the emergency repair at Anne McClymont Elementary school will take up to two weeks.
Students will be transported to other nearby schools over the course of those repairs.
“Kids will be dropped off at school, and then they will get on buses, go to where their classes will be offered and then return in time for parents to pick them up, ” Kaardal said. “And that way it’s not a disruption to the daily routine of you know, 320-plus families.”