Rain on the plains: Regina hammered by major storm

Regina is awash.

The rainstorm that hit the Queen City overnight has left streets flooded, drivers stranded and trees damaged.

As of noon Friday, various areas of the city had received between 40 (1.6 inches) and 65 millimetres (2.5 inches) of rain over the previous 24 hours.

The Regina Fire Water Rescue Team was on the scene at the Albert Street underpass where one driver was rescued after the underpass flooded. A few hours later, another driver tried to take that route. No injuries were reported.

Neil Sundeen, deputy chief with Regina Fire, said it had been a busy morning with about 18 alarms by 10 a.m., which is near twice a normal day.

Besides performing rescues, Sundeen said the service is trying to make sure people have good information to avoid flooded areas. He said people should take streets like Park, Lewvan and Pasqua which don’t have underpasses.

Unsure of how many people were in the vehicle or if anyone has been injured.

From what I've been told by people on the scene the driver supposedly completely ignored the barriers that were in place. pic.twitter.com/hIppPMfk73

— Logan Stein (@L0ganStein) June 11, 2021

Here are streets to avoid due to flooding (1 of 2): pic.twitter.com/3b9opmFadB

— Regina Police (@reginapolice) June 11, 2021

More streets to avoid because of flooding (2 of 2): pic.twitter.com/WLfhjEKd8B

— Regina Police (@reginapolice) June 11, 2021

This storm channel on Pasqua near Avonhurst is very typical of many around the city. Parents are cautioned to keep children away from all bodies of water as the swift water poses a significant danger. #RFPS #YQR pic.twitter.com/4QExoz5nps

— Regina Fire (@Regina_Fire) June 11, 2021

But it could have been a lot worse, considering the thunderstorm warnings that were issued Thursday.

Environment Canada meteorologist Dave Carlson says the brunt of the storm stayed in Montana and North Dakota.

“The system actually didn’t quite live up to expectations,” Carlson said. “What happened was the really warm moist air we thought was going to move into southern Saskatchewan mostly stayed in Montana and North Dakota. And that’s where the really, really bad weather happened.

“They had a bunch of tornadoes, a bunch of really big hail and pretty strong winds up to 150 kilometres an hour or so.”

Our weather system looked much different compared to our neighbours down south.

Parts of southern Saskatchewan saw wind gusts reach 90 to 100 km/h and rain totals averaged anywhere from 20 to 50 millimetres in places.

According to Carlson, the Weyburn and Estevan regions saw the harshest wind gusts totalling around the 100 km/h mark.

Southwest of Moose Jaw was where the most rain came down according to Environment Canada, with some communities in the region reporting over 50 millimetres.

There was only one alert issued by Environment Canada as of Friday morning. There was a rainfall warning for the Pelican Narrows area.

In Regina, rain showers are to stick around most of Friday before things begin clearing up sometime in the evening.

(Photos by Logan Stein, Joseph Ho, Murray Wood, Malcolm Craig and Makenna Weir)