{"id":836837,"date":"2026-07-30T22:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T22:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/836837\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T22:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T22:21:11","slug":"summer-storm-clean-up-could-cost-edmonton-up-to-30m-city-manager-says-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/836837\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer storm clean-up could cost Edmonton up to $30M, city manager says"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Edmonton\u2019s rainy summer is coming with a hefty price tag for the city.<\/p>\n

Damage from this summer\u2019s storms could cost Edmonton between $20\u2013$30 million, said city manager Eddie Robar.<\/p>\n

That estimate is not including the most recent storm damage from Saturday<\/a> or Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a pretty anomalous winter season, followed by a very anomalous summer season. From an infrastructure, or an impact or money perspective, we’re seeing a bigger impact from the rain in the summer here than we had in the winter,\u201d said Robar.<\/p>\n

Multiple storms of heavy rain and high winds have passed through Edmonton this summer, causing flooded roadways, cancelled events, power outages and downed trees.<\/p>\n

But things could have been worse if the city had not invested in flood mitigation, Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The City of Edmonton and utility provider Epcor are seven years into a 20-year \u2014 and $1.6 billion \u2014 flood mitigation plan<\/a>, which aims to improve the city\u2019s drainage system to slow and move storm water away from high-risk areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re starting to see the benefits of that work,\u201d Knack said, noting Yellowhead Trail and Whitemud Drive, which have been partially washed out after multiple storms this summer, are in the process of being upgraded to reduce future flooding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AEdmonton Mayor Andrew Knack says the city has invested heavily into flood prevention. (Radio-Canada)<\/p>\n

The program is a combination of creating new stormwater management ponds and updating utility infrastructure, starting with the most high-risk areas in the city, said Knack.<\/p>\n

Though rain has still managed to flood parts of Edmonton, the city has a more positive outlook than in previous years, Knack said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe areas that were flooding 10 or 15 years ago that had significant property damage \u2026 have not experienced the same type of impact this time around because of this work. I want to make sure people have comfort in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said his city is sending crews of arborists and waste management professionals to help Edmonton with its clean-up response.<\/p>\n

“Today, it’s somebody else who needs our help. Tomorrow, it’s gonna be us who will need that help,” said Farkas. “It’s to the credit of Edmontonians that they’ve always had our back, and it’s really important for us as Calgarians to have Edmonton’s back.”<\/p>\n

The Calgary crews will be working in Edmonton for days, if not weeks, said Farkas, noting that’s with the understanding Edmonton will pay for these services. <\/p>\n

“To be honest, we’re not in a hurry to get those receipts from the City of Edmonton. We want to make sure that we’re providing the assistance here now, and we can determine what the cost recovery arrangement might be in the coming days.”<\/p>\n

To help pay for storm damage, the city has applied to the province\u2019s Hazard Assistance and Resilience Program (HARP), which can reimburse municipalities for up to 90 per cent of eligible disaster costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

June\u2019s storms caused roughly $26 million in uninsurable loss and damage, the city said in a news release earlier this week. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada Edmonton storms have caused $230M in insured damages in May and June<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Alberta\u2019s budget, $2 million is earmarked for the province to respond to disasters and emergencies, said Juliana Rodriguez, the press secretary for Minister of Treasury Board and Finance Jason Nixon, in a statement to CBC News on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

WATCH | To drive or not to drive? That is the question:\"\"<\/p>\n

Flooding ahead: Experts say don’t drive through<\/p>\n

Amid the wettest summer on record in Edmonton, experts are warning of the safety risks of flooding. If the road is flooded, experts say turn around and find an alternate route, or pull over and wait.<\/p>\n

HARP approval times vary depending on the complexity of any given application, said Brendan Cox, a spokesperson for Public Safety and Emergency Services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Alberta Emergency Management Agency\u2019s dedicated recovery co-ordinators and case managers have been working closely with communities throughout the process and are available every step of the way to help navigate applications and claims,\u201d he said in a statement on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Right now, the city is looking forward, hoping to learn if its flood mitigation plan is enough for a\u00a0 changing climate, said Knack.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to make sure our city is flood resilient and prepared for this reality.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":836838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-836837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=836837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/836838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=836837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=836837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=836837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}