WATCH ABOVE: After two flash floods within a week, and a day of non-stop rain, a soccer field in Chestermere has effectively turned into a lake. Global’s David Boushy reports.
CALGARY – Chestermere residents dealt with more rain and two power outages on Friday, after two flash floods hit the city earlier in the week.
Global Calgary’s meteorologist said he expected upwards of 20 to 30 millimetres of rain in the area on Friday, which could be a problem because soil in the city is saturated.
“It’s not a great situation for any area that has the saturated conditions that Chestermere does,” said Jordan Witzel. “Water levels of overland flooding should definitely be monitored by residents and officials as the day progresses and rain continues to fall. I expect rain to get lighter in the area late in the afternoon and start to clear through the evening and overnight.”
READ MORE: City of Chestermere ‘unaware’ how many homes flooded in second storm
Officials at the city said all storm ponds were continuing to drain or holding steady on Friday night, after Westmere pond was pumped by Chestermere Utilities (CUI) staff overnight. The water level at the pond dropped about 24 inches.
Fortis Alberta said the morning power outage was a “switch that tripped” and was not related to the rainy weather.
Another power outage in the afternoon was “transmission related” according to a tweet from Fortis Alberta. Enmax told Global News the cause was under investigation. The power was restored just after 2 p.m.
The city said sandbags were available Friday at the Public Works yard east of the Highway 1 overpass and anyone interested in volunteering to help fill or deliver them can call 403-207-7048. The city was specifically looking for volunteers with trucks.
A webpage with information for flood support is available at www.chestermere.ca/floodsupport. City staff said crews will continue to monitor the storm ponds and storm water system “very closely” over the weekend.
READ MORE: Chestermere flooded again just two days after 300 homes damaged
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