“It’s very scary living here right now,” says Milly Loewen, one of many residents of Jubilee Landing, a trailer park community in Sherwood Park, Alta.
The community, located roughly 15 kilometres east of Edmonton, is experiencing flooding after days of heavy rain that has also affected many other communities in central Alberta.
Loewen, who is in her 90s, said she is “stranded” inside her home because of the flooding. She said she is nervous that accessing her home and nearby properties will be increasingly difficult, putting her and her neighbour’s safety at risk.
“What if emergency has to come? They’ll bring a boat, I guess,” she told CBC News on Monday as a seemingly endless rush of water filled the street near her home.
Milly Loewen is a resident of Jubilee Landing. She says she is ‘stranded’ inside her home because of the flooding in Sherwood Park, Alta. (Craig Ryan/CBC)
Days of heavy rain in Edmonton and surrounding municipalities have pushed wastewater systems to — or in some cases even past — their limits, prompting overland flooding and waterlogged roads on Sunday and into Monday.
Parts of central Alberta saw over 100 millimetres of rainfall over the weekend, prompting several municipalities to issue water supply or overland flooding alerts, including the City of Edmonton. Edmonton’s alert was lifted on Monday night.
Residents from affected areas have received pleas from officials to limit non-essential water usage in order to reduce strain on local water systems.
The rain was expected to taper off on Monday, before the intense weather system was to weaken and pull away from Alberta, Environment Canada said in a statement early Monday morning.
‘We just want to be heard’
Jeanette Curtis also lives in Jubilee Landing and is calling on Strathcona County and the trailer park management company, Parkbridge, to take action to prevent damaging floods from happening in the future.
Curtis said she believes the flooding was a result of nearby storm ponds overflowing because of the weekend’s heavy rain.
“We just want to be heard and have the problem fixed,” she said, noting water levels on Saturday were “waist-high.”
Jeanette Curtis is a resident of Jubilee Landing in Sherwood Park, Alta, who says she has seen flooding worse than Monday in the area. (Craig Ryan/CBC)
In a statement to CBC News on Monday, Jason Casault, the utilities director at Strathcona County, said Jubilee Landing is a privately-owned community that operates its own water, wastewater and stormwater systems, including a storm pond.
But Parkbridge told CBC News the pond is “located outside the community property.”
In a statement, the company said only a small number of homes have been affected by the flooding, but that it is in touch with those affected.
“As is the case in freehold communities, homeowners are responsible for pursuing any flood-related claims through their insurance providers,” the statement read.
The company did not respond to questions asking what efforts were made to prevent the flooding and if the incident has affected its flood prevention strategy.
Casault said the county conducts stormwater system reviews after major rainfall events.
“If the review identifies concerns regarding the private infrastructure, we will share those with the property owners,” he said.
WATCH | Edmontonians were urged to limit their non-essential use of water:
City of Edmonton urges residents to limit non-essential water use
Days of heavy rain have caused issues in parts of Alberta. Stormwater systems are at capacity, in some cases causing flooding and sewers to back up. Emergency alerts have been issued in Edmonton and surrounding areas.
This weekend isn’t the first time Jubilee Landing has flooded, said Curtis, noting worse floods have happened in the past.
“This is mild compared to what it has been.”
Edmonton sees over 100 mm of rainfall since Friday
As of noon on Monday, Edmonton had seen just under 189.9 mm of rain — 104 mm fell since Friday — this month, making it Edmonton’s second-wettest June ever, according to Environment Canada meteorologist Chloe Katsademas.
One more rainy event this month could break the record of 216.5 mm that fell in Edmonton in June 1914, she said.
This rain is both a blessing and a curse, according to Edmontonians who spoke with CBC News on Monday.
Theresa Loehde told CBC News that the sloped concrete of a nearby infill was pushing pools of water into her yard and her waterproofed basement.
“Thankfully, I do have an unfinished basement, so it’s not as big of a deal [as it would be] had it been finished, but still I’ve got water coming in through the foundation, so that’s the main issue at this point,” she said.
Heavy rains in parts of central Alberta, including Edmonton have caused multiple municipalities to urge locals to stop all non-essential water use as wastewater systems reach capacity. (Caleb Perreaux/Radio-Canada)
Loehde said she has filed a complaint with the city and is hopeful that change can be made.
“The city just needs to really look at these infills and the neighbouring properties and actually assess what can be done to mitigate harm.”
But Lynsey Grosfield, who has built a rain-absorbing garden system, welcomed the wet weather.
Grosfield, the reclamation and horticulture director for the Alberta Native Plant Council, funnelled rainwater from nearby multiplexes in order to nourish the plants in her “makeshift bog,” which she said helped prevent her neighbours from flooding.
Despite welcoming more water into her yard, Grosfield said her basement has stayed bone dry.
“No floods in our basement, which we do get sometimes with winter runoff,” she said. “Nice to see the system preventing our 100-year-old foundation from showing its age.”
Lynsey Grosfield built a rain-absorbing garden system in her front yard in Edmonton. She calls it a ‘makeshift bog.’ (Submitted by Lynsey Grosfield)
In a news release on Monday, the City of Edmonton said “crews are actively inspecting and assessing impacts from the inclement weather.”
‘A biblical one-off’
Samantha Kyle, who lives near Alcomdale, Alta., took the opportunity to splash around.
The community is around 60 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
Kyle told CBC News she had to travel through the flooded areas wearing hip-waders on Sunday before officials from Sturgeon County pumped water away from homes.
Growing up in the region, she said it’s not uncommon for springtime floods to occur in the area since it sits low, but that this weekend’s rain was something else.
“This was like a biblical one-off,” Kyle told CBC News on Monday. “I’ve never seen rain like that.”
She said she and her family took advantage of the rain over the weekend after seeing her friend get “the beers and the dinghy out” to go paddling in their yard.
“Once I saw that … I was like, ‘Well, OK, let’s get the kayak out.’ Might as well.”
WATCH | A wet start to summer in the Prairies:
Start of summer marked by rainy weather in Alberta
Alberta is getting a wet and windy start to summer.
Heavy rain fell over the weekend, leading to basement flooding and community event cancellations.
Emily Fitzpatrick has more.