Dozens of basements flooded due to Monday night rainstorm in Weyburn

City crews and residents are cleaning up after a heavy rainstorm rolled into Weyburn Monday night.

Based on Kasey Fowler’s rain gauge, his yard on 6th Street got about six inches of rain. His basement was flooded with even more water.

“There was basically a water line around our entire basement. I measured it and it was at 39 inches,” Fowler said.

“It looked like our house had been ransacked. There were freezers tipped over, the couch had been moved, everything was just kind of laying on the ground.”

Fowler is still sorting through the damage, but he said most things are replaceable, like his wrecked DVDs and couch.

However, he said the family photo albums will be a tough loss.

As of Wednesday afternoon, SGI Canada had received 55 claims from the Weyburn area, according to spokesperson Tyler McMurchy. The majority of claims were related to sewer back up, he said, and a handful of claims were for vehicle damage.

McMurchy said residents who are waiting to see an adjuster should start the clean up process themselves and keep the receipts for any costs associated with cleaning.

“Take a lot of photos and video to document what’s been damaged and what’s been lost. Record model numbers if possible, as well,” he said.

“You want to have as good of a description of those damaged items as possible.”

Monday’s flood also damaged city streets and opened up some sinkholes, according to the city’s director of engineering, Jennifer Wilkinson.

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She said crews started blocking off streets around 10 p.m. Monday night and will continue to assess the damage in areas of the city.

“We had lots of streets that were barely passable, completely flooded out into people’s yards, and draining issues, so we had crews out releasing catch basins” Wilkinson said.

The pool was the only city facility that suffered significant water damage, Wilkinson said. It will stay closed while officials clean up and assess the damage.

The storm filled the city’s lift station, forcing crews to drain the wastewater directly into the ditch rather than the lagoon, Wilkinson said.

“The water was rising so fast that we couldn’t keep up,” she said.

“(The direct release) was to keep it from backing into people’s homes and having the sewer essentially back up.”

The city has applied for the provincial disaster assistance program. If approved, residents will be able to submit claims for damage that is not covered by insurance.