The City of Chestermere received a $591,500 provincial grant Feb. 26 as part of the Alberta Community Resilience program, which is aimed at developing long-term flood resilience throughout Alberta, after 25.5 centimetres of rain fell in five hours and flash flooded Chestermere on July 12, 2015.
The City was aware it needed to build resiliency into its systems, according to Mayor Patricia Matthews, who noted the funding boost from the provincial government provides a sense of comfort to residents because they won’t feel the burden of the many issues arising out of the flood.
“It gives all of us that big sigh of relief,” she said.
On the day of the flood, Matthews said four storm cells converged and remained over Chestermere, enveloping the sky with a bluish grey before it opened up and poured rain unlike anything the city had ever experienced.
She said the storm knocked out power in a substation, which left a large portion of Chestermere without electricity and a number of pumps that could have aided in pumping the massive amounts of storm water went down.
While relief efforts were in full force after the storm, the rain came back a day and half later, this time bringing hail that clogged the storm drains, she said, creating yet another mess for Chestermere.
“I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” Matthews said.
After the rain had finally stopped, the flood damaged more than 300 residences, she said.
Though the chance of a storm of that caliber occurring in Chestermere again is near zero, Matthews said the cost of flooding is immense and the resiliency projects planned will create a better channel for water to flow and reduce the community impact in the event flooding occurs again.
“That saves all of us in our community, and all of Albertans, future money,” she said.
Chestermere will work with Chestermere Utilities Inc. to improve the Westmere Storm Pond and install a permanent pump with a back up generator to direct excess water into the ditch and away from residential homes.
A culvert will also be constructed under Chestermere Boulevard to prevent the roadway flooding from excess water.
“It’s critical to invest in our local flood defenses to ensure people are safe, infrastructure is protected and business continues to operate without interruption,” said Premier Rachel Notley in a press release.
