Heavy rains throughout Saskatoon on Monday caused streets and underpasses to flood the city.
“What happened today seems to have been an extremely local event,” Environment Canada meteorologist Danielle Desjardins said Monday afternoon.
“We were seeing that some of the stations reported 50 to 70 millimeters that we saw at the southern end of the city, while at the airport, they reached a millimeter. There seems to be a big difference between the north and the south end of the city. “
The weather forecast for the early afternoon in Saskatoon suggested that it will be mostly cloudy, and it turned out to be much worse than that.
“If the report said it was cloudy, it was probably happening at our airport station, which didn’t get much rain,” Desjardins said. “That was probably the case with the heaviest rainfall south of the station.
“As far as I know, there was no problem on the part of Environment and Climate Change Canada. It was just a product of how local these floods and these extreme rains were.”
Floods are being reported in underground passages across the city. Please be very careful out there. Taylor and Lorne Ave underpasses locations are currently impassable. pic.twitter.com/7jwTNrS3yi
– SPS Traffic Unit (@SPSTraffic) June 20, 2022
Saskatoon Police said Lorne Avenue and Exhibition Road, the northbound lanes of Circle Drive near Taylor Street overpass, Circle Drive and Idylwyld overpass, and locations near Louise Street and Preston Drive were flooded. .
Police are urging residents to stay away from the areas and be careful in areas that were experiencing flooding.
Scene at Mckercher and 8th. The water begins to recede. #yxe @CKOMNews pic.twitter.com/cfEUPf8ucG
– Brent Bosker (@brentbosker) June 20, 2022
A man on the corner of the eighth and McKercher said the water had risen beyond the tires of his car.
“It’s very bad weather right now,” he said. “The police should do something for us, like stop traffic or do anything to make sure there are no cars in the water.”
He said water got into his car, so much so that his shoes floated.
“There’s literally water inside my car,” he said. “If you go in there and open the doors, it’s all water.”
Clarence Neufeld was near Eighth and Taylor and said the road was flooded, with cars parked in the water that had accumulated.
“Northbound traffic, there have been some semis, but now much of the traffic is taking the ramp to Taylor Street instead of trying to get under the flyover,” Neufeld said.
Christine Thille was trying to get to Stonebridge after learning that her children’s school, Chief Whitecap School, was closing soon due to some flood concerns.
“I went to Stonebridge and when I got there, there were cars lined up at all the intersections because they were all flooded,” he said. “The cars had tried to pass through the intersections and then they were stopping because water was getting into their cars.”
Thille said she had to park two blocks away and walk on the water that was above her knees to get to school.
“There are now police in the area who are driving cars away from intersections that are especially bad, but there are still a lot of abandoned cars that have just been stopped and unfortunately will be a bit full of water.” he said.
This can also be applied to cars in the underground car park of an apartment building in front of the school. Thille said it looked like there were three or four feet of water in the garage.
📢 City and fire crews are responding to several flood-related calls spotted by heavy rains this afternoon.❗ Drivers avoid Circle Dr between College and Taylor; Louise & Mceown. @ Stoontransit routes 6, 19 and 83 are deviating. Check public transportation service alerts. pic.twitter.com/K9bFNAUj4S
– @cityofsaskatoon (@cityofsaskatoon) June 20, 2022
According to a Facebook post by Ian Striemer, more than three inches of rain fell in about two hours.
More than 3 “of rain in about 2 hours with our street partially flooded for the first time in our 20 years here. The water level went up the roads about 6-7 feet.
Posted by Ian Striemer on Monday, June 20, 2022
Samantha Krahn said her house was flooded during the downpour, with water coming in through the windows and her fireplace.
Water is pouring out of the basement window and chimney and Louise Avenue is flooded. Please avoid. There are already three cars submerged. #yxestorm #yxe @CBCSaskatoon @GlobalSaskatoon @ctvsaskatoon @CKOMNews pic.twitter.com/sNFO4tr9af
– Samantha Krahn (@SamanthaKrahn) June 20, 2022
Mandy Denwood sent us her flood video for the City Park neighborhood.
Listen live to our special coverage for all the latest details: pic.twitter.com/WYylhsnN9O
– 650 CKOM (@CKOMNews) June 20, 2022
More to come.