Bill Alto didn’t really get a chance to relax over the weekend.
There have been many summer weekends where he and his family are scared to travel too far away from home.
“We don’t know if anything is going to happen to the house. If there’s a chance of rain, we don’t go anywhere because we don’t know what condition it will be in,” he said.
Sunday morning’s rainfall resulted in pipes failing and manhole covers not holding water down with excess water ending up in yards on his street.
Alto said this is the fourth flood he’s had to deal with since moving into the home five years ago.
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“I’m at my wit’s end. We’re throwing away $50-$100 of stuff,” he told Global News.
The City of Saskatoon said older neighbourhoods tend to have these issues.
“There isn’t a way for water to escape because that was not considered in the design in those days. So that’s where the problem is happening. Some of the low-lying areas are actually where today would be a storm retention pond,” Saskatoon Water director Reid Corbett said.
Earlier this year, the federal government chipped in more than $20 million to help with the city’s $54-million flood control strategy.
The plan aims to protect more than 1,200 residents and their properties from flooding by creating new infrastructures like dry ponds and stormwater pipes over the next nine years.
However, it doesn’t appear that Alto’s street will be in line for a fix.
The project targets higher priority areas.
“I just hope it doesn’t come in the back door at this point because if it comes over the threshold, we’re done,” Alto said.
He added that he’s already put in about $2,000 into waterproofing his home and he feels like he can only hold his breath whenever he sees dark clouds.
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