It was a hairy situation Saturday night in North Battleford as a major storm rolled into the city.
There were reports of heavy rain and hail and of tree damage from the storm that hit around 10 p.m.
Still, City officials are reporting the situation was not as bad as what transpired from the storms that hit in 2010 or 2012, both of which prompted local states of emergency.
According to the City’s acting communications manager Dustin MacDonald, it was an area of about five city blocks in the north end of the city that bore the brunt of the storm, running from 98th Street and 11th Avenue to Douglas Avenue and Scott Drive.
MacDonald described the city as having been “lucky” in that regard.
According to city Director of Operations Stewart Schafer there was some minor flooding in the intersections due to the hail knocking leaves down and plugging the catch basins. Crews were out clearing the catch basins of leaves and hail, and once those were cleared the flooding was able to drain away.
There was some flooding in Kildeer and other areas, as well as in the centre part of the city, reports Schafer, and numerous reports of trees that landed in the middle of the street and broken branches throughout the city.
There was one report of a tree that had fallen on a car, and there have been photos online on social media showing uprooted trees and white out conditions from the storm.
While it was a bad storm, the city missed most of it. Had it rained a little longer or harder, there would have been problems, Schafer said.
Monday, about 30 members of city operations staff were out in the streets cleaning up and MacDonald said they were about 90 per cent done as of that date. There will continue to be after-storm cleanup for the next week or so to remove any remaining items and broken branches.
He adds the city is not charging any fees at the waste management facility for clippings or tree branches that the public would like to bring in there, due to the number of broken branches from the storm. The waste management facility will accept tree pruning free from July 27 to Aug. 1.
