A widespread downpour drenched much of the city last night as part of a thunderstorm that rumbled through.
Again.
It’s the third time in the last couple of weeks storms have flooded intersections and underpasses, and in some cases, basements.
Mike Payne with Restorex Disaster Restoration said it hasn’t just been one area of the city dealing with flooding.
“The downtown core near the General Hospital, there seems to be an uptick of claims in that area specifically,” Payne said. “But outside of that, it’s basically every area of the city that experienced the rain could would and does have issues in their basement.”
Payne said that while they have added staff for the spring, having as many storms as we’ve had in the last couple of weeks has been challenging.
Payne said it’s unusual to see this amount of storms so early, and that having two rainfall events as close together as we’ve had, will catch everyone off guard.
“We had many many re-floods in homes and businesses that we dealt with from the first flood,” he said. “And then basically after the second rainstorm we were called out there to do more extraction and so on so it’s been an absolute bananas two weeks.”
If your house has flooded – or if recent rainstorms have you concerned about your house flooding, Payne says there are some things you can do.
“The exterior of the home is probably the easiest,” he said. “You really want to look at grading away from your home as far as gravel or flower beds. Any chance that water will pool against your foundation is bad news. It’s going to look for a way into your home and it’ll find it.”
Payne said it’s also important to clean the gutters from the seed husks and dead leaves.
“If that’s the case, then it’s not going to even flow to your downspouts,” he said. “It’ll basically just overflow and it’s right near the foundation of your house, and that’s where you’re seeing seepage. And typically that’s not covered by insurance so you definitely don’t want to have that event happening.”
Interior home tips include drywall, paint and carpet can get damaged, but keep your keepsakes and sentimental higher than the ground.
“Take those Readers Digests off the shelf and put them in a box on the floor,” he said. “Put your good stuff on the shelf.”
