REGINA, Sask. — The City of Regina saw a large dumping of rainfall on Sunday, impacting residents and roads.
Adam Bryant, the city’s manager of sewer and drainage operations, said rainfall totals varied across Regina, with some areas receiving as much as 50 millimetres.
“According to our rain gauge data, we received up to 50 millimetres on Sunday,” Bryant said on Monday.
Several underpasses were closed for a few hours as crews responded to flooding. Bryant said how quickly the city responds depends on the location and cause of the flooding.
“It was roughly a few hours that they were closed,” he said.
The city can learn about flooding through service requests, emergency responses or other reports. The Albert Street underpass is the exception, as it has a flood sensor that automatically alerts city staff and shuts down the underpass when triggered.
“The Albert Street one just automatically gets shut down when that sensor goes off,” Bryant said.
At other underpasses, city crews or first responders such as the Regina Police Service or fire crews may initially block the area until city staff arrive with barricades.
Bryant said weekend staffing can sometimes make responses take longer, but the city prepares for major weather events.
“We make sure that we have some staff that are available to respond to it,” he said. “For the most part, not a huge impact on the weekend.”
Despite photos showing water being pumped into Wascana Lake, Bryant said there was no wastewater overflow into Wascana Creek or Wascana Lake.
“There was no wastewater overflow into Wascana Creek or Wascana Lake,” he said. “That’s just stormwater, it’s not wastewater.”
Bryant described Sunday’s rainfall as a “one-in-five-year event,” though he said it was slightly less rainfall overall than a major event earlier this summer.
As of 12 p.m. on Monday, the city had received 70 service requests related to drainage, manholes, water leaks or sewer backups. Of those, 34 involved blocked storm drains.
Bryant said residents are encouraged to help clear storm drains when it is safe.
“We do encourage residents to help out keeping those storm drains clear,” he said.
