Intense thunderstorm leads to flooded streets in Regina

A ferocious thunderstorm that pelted Regina with heavy rain, hail and a tornado led to traffic hold ups and business closures across the city.

The main issue facing the city’s emergency services was water backlogs around Regina’s underpasses.

For several hours Sunday morning, traffic was restricted on Ring Road north of Victoria Avenue due to flooding around the Ross Street underpass.

Social media posts from emergency services across the city highlighted stranded drivers among the city’s newly created lakes.

Environment Canada reported that Regina recieved a total of 17.3 milimetres of precipitation during the storm.

• Download the CTV News app to get breaking news alerts from across Saskatchewan sent to your device

However, it wasn’t just motorists who were affected by the influx of water.

Staff at the Newo-Yotina Friendship Centre came into work Sunday morning and were greeted by a rude awakening from Mother Nature.

“We walked in this morning and it was just wet feet pretty much from the mess,” paramedic Rian Put told CTV News.

“Inside, we saw a pretty large puddle in the middle of the room there, walked into a couple offices and again, puddles in the room. Lots of mud coming up in the bathroom from the sinks, all backfilled.”

The flooding was a major issue for staff. Put reiterated that countless people rely on Newo-Yotina for clean and safe facilities.

“Our people are unable to access safe supplies for drug use, safe consumption site, they’re unable to sit and maybe have a nap inside, one of the few places they can use a washroom that they might not be able to access and have to find elsewhere for services,” Chiara Wolfe, a housing support generalist with the centre told CTV News.

According to Environment Canada, the storm that rolled through the Queen City is now well on its way to the east.

Regardless, Regina and the rest of the province may see more storms like it in the near future.

“Saskatchewan has kind of been the battleground for thunderstorm activity. So with the very slow moving patterns there’s just been rounds and rounds of thunderstorm activity,” meteorologist Chris Stammers explained.

“It does look like it will remain unsettled for the next few days although the worst of the weather is going shift into Manitoba over the next couple of days.”

For the centre’s staff, all that can be done now is clean up the mess and hope they wont have to close their doors again.

“Having this centre open on a Sunday is really beneficial,” Wolfe said. “It’s detrimental to have to close and it’s sad to turn people away but we ultimately don’t want people to get hurt.”

“People need it every day,” Put added. “They’re always gonna need it … every single day.”