REGINA, Sask. — Foundation repair and plumbing businesses have been overloaded with service requests due to the heavy rainfall in Regina.
Some parts of Regina have received up to 100,8 mm of rain, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Matthew Clayton, owner of Duke Sewer Service, says the number of phone calls they have received is three times more than they are used to at this time of year.
"For us in particular, this is not good for business. For most of these people calling in — there's nothing we can do for them anyway. They generally call us while the rain is surging into their basement through a sewer or through a storm line, and when that's already happening, there's nothing that we can do for them," says Clayton.
Clayton also stresses that many of the callers actually do not understand how their basements are being flooded.
"What's typically happening is the sewer is just so full that it starts discharging back up into people's houses, into their basements," says Clayton.
Kerry Garchinski, owner of a foundation repair company called Ram Jack Saskatchewan, says the number of phone calls he is receiving is six or seven times the usual volume. Garchinski also says that his business is already booked up all the way to the end of this year.
"We don't have the manpower to take on any more storms like this," says Garchinski.
Garchinski expresses sympathy to residents who are calling around to different repair companies and struggling to book an appointment. Garchinski points out that this has happened before in Regina, most recently five years ago when there was a massive downpour in June, but it does not make it any easier during times like this when businesses struggle to keep up.
"Just the way the foundation basins are in Regina, people are always dealing with water issues or some kind of foundation issue," says Garchinski.
