EDMONTON – After flooding caused major damage to several areas of the city in July 2012, drainage staff have been trying to find ways to prevent it from happening again. Tuesday, some information was presented to council.
“My husband and I haven’t taken holidays in July for eight years, because that’s when we flood.”
Kathy Brower has lived in the Tweddle Place neighbourhood in south Edmonton for 25 years.
“Last year was actually the first year our entire property was under water.”
During last summer’s flooding, there were reports that water in some areas of Edmonton rose up to five feet.
Still, 2012 wasn’t the first summer Brower’s home sustained flood damage. Brower says anytime there is a storm, nobody in her neighbourhood sleeps. They watch the waters rise, and, she says, if the manhole covers pop off the road, their homes will flood.
She stresses something must to done to mitigate flood damage.
“Our community can’t afford this anymore. We just can’t do it.”
On Tuesday, city council heard a presentation from the Utilities Committee about how to prevent the flooding that happened July 2012 from happening again.
“There are issues with the drainage system,” said Councillor Amarjeet Sohi, “and we need to fix those issues.”
He explained the city will look at immediate solutions for areas that have been most severely impacted by flooding, while also considering city-wide long-term solutions.
“City-wide, that’s long term. We’re looking at solutions immediately for most-impacted communities, and then have a long-term plan for those communities where flooding happens, but doesn’t happen on a regular basis.”
“We’re doing work in Cloverdale,” explains Chris Ward, branch manager of drainage services with the City of Edmonton. “We’re doing work in other communities to try and say ‘these are the solutions we can start to bring in. Even if you haven’t got flooded, here’s what we can do to lower the risk of potential flooding.’”
“I think we have to have a phased approach,” Sohi added. “Immediate challenges we need to deal with right away.”
The specific details of flood mitigation plans for the city have not been made public. The new city council will review recommendations from the Utilities Committee in November.
“My only concern with that is, in the meantime, before the work is completed, if it happens again, I don’t know what will happen,” admits Brower.
“We’re just average citizens,” adds Garry Zawierucha, another Tweddle Place resident. “We just want our neighbourhood back, our lives back. We don’t need to go through this again.”
Zawierucha told council that there is photographic evidence of flooding happening in his neighbourhood as far back as 1978.
During Tuesday’s presentation, council heard early estimates for mitigation efforts for the areas impacted by the 2012 flooding are between $150 and $200 million.
Other parts of the city have seen flooding as well, so now, drainage staff will go over what happened in those areas and additional reports will be made to council.
With files from Vinesh Pratap, Global News
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