Residents call for better flood protection in wake of Saskatoon rainstorm

Saskatoon is in recovery mode after heavy rainfall on Monday turned city streets into urban lakes.

One resident who has lived in the Holliston neighbourhood for more than three years, said he’s not happy with the City of Saskatoon after his home and vehicles were badly damaged in the deluge.

“I’ve had water come over the foundation on all four corners of my home,” he said. “Both my cars are flooded. The damage is yet to be seen, but right now it looks like the whole basement’s going to have to come out, and we’ll see about the vehicles.”

The flooding started around 2 p.m. Monday, and water reached up more than a foot on all sides of his house.

“Unfortunately, there’s pretty poor drainage in this neighbourhood that has not been dealt with by the city, so I’m pretty disappointed,” he said.

“Everybody’s safe, but I really hope it’s an issue that we can address in the future. This is not the first time that this place has flooded, but this is definitely the largest flood so far.”

Mayor Charlie Clark defended the city’s flood response.

During an interview with 650 CKOM Tuesday morning, Clark said some flood-prone neighbourhoods stayed dry because of the new W.W. Ashley Park storm pond, which was completed last fall.

Storm pond W.W. Ashley Park on June 20, 2022. (650 CKOM/Patrick Hopkins)

“I went to one of the houses that has flooded multiple times in previous storm events like this and went down to the basement. It was completely dry,” Clark said.

“Some of these infrastructure investments we’re making are paying off. We’re going to continue to storm-proof the city.”

In December of 2018, city council approved a nine-year, $54-million flood control strategy to help mitigate flooding in 10 areas that are considered high risk.

Construction on a second dry storm pond in Churchill Park began this winter, while a third in Weaver Park is scheduled to begin in early 2023.

An update from the city Tuesday morning indicated the local infrastructure is keeping up, but city employees will closely monitor the system with more rain in the forecast.

The city said the system needs several days to recover and asked residents to help by not running washing machines or dishwashers or flushing toilets unless absolutely necessary.

Most of the civic facilities have reopened, with the exceptions of Lions Arena and the Lawson Civic Centre’s fitness room.

–With files from 650 CKOM’s Taylor MacPherson