City Manager Bob Smith has announced that the provincial government will be providing the City of Weyburn with additional flood assistance as a result of last week's severe rainfall.
"Last Friday, we were hit by another major storm that deposited two to three inches of water in the matter of about a half hour. Although this was not on the same scale as the crisis earlier this year, it nonetheless caused problems. Some streets were flooded and some people sustained flood damage mostly as a result of water trapped in window wells or inadequate landscaping drainage," said Smith.
The damage was significant enough that the City administration decided to ask the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) to regard the latest rains as a second flood event, as a result of the earlier flooding. On Tuesday, August 16, PDAP approved this request.
Application forms for disaster assistance are available from City Hall.
Smith also noted that some of the water damage was worsened by inconsiderate behaviour by some residents.
"Some drivers found it fun to drive through the flooded streets at high speed to create huge splashes, which ended up in homeowners' yards and basements. I would think that after what we went through as a community earlier this year, people would realize that flooding is no laughing matter," said Smith.
In questioning how the storm sewer infrastructure held up with the deluge of rain Smith said "According to the Engineering firm that designed the system, everything worked as it was supposed to even though some streets and intersection saw a pooling of water for some time, that is what is to be expected when we get a large amount of rainfall in such a short period of time". Smith noted they are reviewing the areas which had pooling to make sure all systems were performing to established engineering standards.
