Torrential downpour Tuesday evening caused flooding in parts of southern Saskatchewan including Regina.
More than 34 millimetres of rain fell in about an hour, making it Regina’s largest flash flood since September 2015. Nearly 38 millimetres of rain was recorded then.
Two areas of the city hit hard were the underpasses at Albert Street and Saskatchewan Drive along with Broad Street and Saskatchewan Drive.
The flooding caused several vehicles to be submerged underwater.
“Once the car gets into a certain depth of the water … it’s like your car floats into the water. You don’t even have the ability to back it up,” said Regina Police Service Chief Evan Bray.
Regina police sent out a tweet around 8 p.m. advising drivers to avoid the areas. The underpass at Winnipeg and Dewdney was wet and muddy, but was open for access.
The City of Regina says its drainage pumps at the underpasses were working, but water filled the pipes, forcing overflow onto the streets. The city says this is the first time this area has flooded in the past two years.
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“There is always going to be a large enough storm to overwhelm almost any system,” said Pat Wilson, City of Regina’s water, waste and environmental services director.
The city plans to upgrade the underground storage at the Albert Street underpass in 2021. A detention pond isn’t a viable option in that area, so the city says it needs to decide on a different solution. It is still monitoring the system’s effectiveness at the Broad Street underpass.
The flood impacted several more areas of downtown, along with the city’s east and south ends.
Planet Fitness closed Tuesday night because of rain seeping into the building. Its doors remained shut Wednesday during clean up.
Regina’s restoration businesses were flooded with calls, including Inspect It All Services.
“We’ve had numerous calls from customers around different parts of Regina for sewer backups and seepage in their basements,” said Ashley Read, Inspect It All Services owner. “We’ve had crews out since 10 o’clock last night working all through the night and then all day today.”
Other parts of the city had their power go out during the thunderstorms.
Within an hour, most of the 35 millimetres of rain fell on the Queen City.
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