Tenants of housing complex frustrated by downpours, say nothing is being done about flooding in parking lot

Recent downpours have frustrated tenants of a Regina low income housing complex. They say their parking lot floods with every heavy rain and the landlord has not taken steps to improve drainage.

Residents at the apartment complex on Sangster Boulevard say it’s been happening for years. Every time there’s a downpour, the parking lot fills with water up to their knees.

Candace Levesque said she had to bail buckets of water out of her car.

“My trunk was full. Everything was wet, my seats. My car didn’t start. I had a lot of electrical errors. Everything is just really devastating,” she said.

Some tenants said their vehicles had to be towed to SGI after a recent rain and might be written off.

Alicia Hoffart said as a mother of three kids, she can’t be without a vehicle.

“Now that my vehicle has to be towed because it wouldn’t start and there’s electrical issues, I’m not sure exactly what I’m supposed to do to get my kids to and from their activities,” she said.

The flooding occurred on May 27. SGI said it received 56 vehicle hail claims in Regina as a result of that storm and 105 claims for water damage. The tenants say their parking lot is prone to flooding but Regina Housing has failed to take corrective action.

“This is not the first time that cars have been flooded in this parking lot so they know that it happens and yet they don’t do anything,” Levesque said.

The city says the Sangster Boulevard area isn’t any more problematic than other parts of the city during heavy rain. Regina Housing calls the flooding unfortunate but says it’s an insurance issue.