Southern Alberta community hit by flooding for second time in days

CHESTERMERE, Alta. – Just two days after being hit by flash flooding, Chestermere, Alta., has again been hit by heavy rains.

David Spence, meteorologist for radio station CFFR, said Tuesday’s heavy downpour was the last thing the community east of Calgary needed because the ground there is already saturated.

On Sunday, about 300 homes were affected by flooding from a quick but heavy rainstorm that dropped about 225 millimetres of rain in about two hours.

On Tuesday, there was enough rain to flood streets and enough hail to make the area look like there had been snow.

#chestermere#Alberta#storm#moments ago#more water pic.twitter.com/H2Ju7NIMaZ

— Kelly Albert (@kellygjalbert) July 14, 2015

Chestermere Mayor Patricia Matthews went online to assure residents city officials were keeping a close eye on the storm ponds and infrastructure.

But resident Bryan Urie complained the community’s storm systems simply aren’t good enough.

“A regular rain, sure,” he said. “But if you have more than just a regular rain, it’s not going to be enough coverage.”

Murray Dagg rushed home to fire up the generators and keep his sump pumps going. He said the biggest problem on Sunday was the power was out for seven hours, but he noted that at least that didn’t happen on Tuesday.

Second round of hail, flooding hits Chestermere, Alberta http://t.co/kl9AlrpzfX pic.twitter.com/ShwNDYLuAl

— DKI Canada (@DKICanada) July 15, 2015

“The damage is occurring now from the idiots driving through and just looking at stuff,” he said. “You’re just pushing water right into people’s garages and houses again. They’ve already got enough damage – we don’t need any more.”

City officials actually put out a plea asking drivers to stay off water-covered roads to avoid splashing water back into houses.

“Everybody here has sort of been scrambling, trying to get help from the insurance companies and also the work crews,” said resident Debbie Deslauriers.

She said the fact that officials called Sunday’s flooding the result of a freak storm, and then to have it happen again on Tuesday, was very unnerving.

“A lot of people don’t know how to react,” she said. “When you drive down the road, you don’t realize how deep the water is. You have no idea, until it’s over the hood of your car.”