‘We are the drain of the neighbourhood:’ Crescent Heights residents want storm drain fix following years of floods

Next door to Mary Ann is Wendy Fayad Dennis, who has lived in her home since 2005.

( submitted photo/ donovan dennis)

“It’s so hard to see your property, not your fault, because when I bought up here, I made sure, I used to live in Southridge, I was going to be far away from the river and the flats so I wouldn’t have any flooding, but within a year of being out here I had a flood,”

( submitted photo/ Mary Ann Nielsen)

Their street, according to the homeowners has flooded for three consecutive years, and the impact has reached far and wide.

“2019 we got a lot of water, a thunderstorm rolled through in 45 minutes, it was six inches above the base of my windows, $33,000 in damage, and you can’t find insurance. There’s one company that will insure me.” said Ryan Heidenger

The residents say they have tried to reach out to the city over the years about the flooding on their street, but have been met with little in the way of results.

Flooding along 11 St NE in June 2019 ( Ryan Heidenger/Submitted photo)

“I’ve made numerous calls, and I have not received a phone call back. They transfer me, goes straight to voicemail.. and nothing,” Heidenger said.

“I never would have thought that I would have felt forgotten when I bought a house, and that’s the truth,” Heidenger added.

The City Responds

The City of Medicine Hat says flood mitigation work occurs yearly as part of their Asset Management Program.

Stan Nowakowski, manager of engineering services for the city, says flooding along Crescent Heights can be attributed to out-dated storm drainage systems, that are too costly to replace all at once.

( Ryan Heidenger/ CHATNewsToday)

“Storm systems they are built to a certain standard and these standards have evolved over time, so the standards of today came into effect in the late 1990s, so what we have today in our new developments is quite a bit different than what was built in say these older neighborhoods forty, fifty years ago,” he said, noting that many of the earlier standards weren’t built to withstand some of the major storms the city has faced.

Along with storm-drainage systems, land development practices have also changed over the years.

“Back in the day forty, fifty years ago, the developments didn’t take into account drainage issues from buildings. They also didn’t take into account drainage along the road,” Nowakowski said.

Standards for drainage are set forth by the province through Alberta Environment and Parks. Homes built before the standards were created, according to Nowakowski typically carry different standards.

To prevent strom systems, old and new from failing, Nowakowski said city crews regularly sweep the streets to minimize the amount of debris that clog the catch-basins.

“We are constantly going out to keep the streets clean, the catch basins clean, the gutters clean, we flush lines, ongoing maintenance of the system helps,” Nowakowski explained.

Demanding a fix

Still, for these residents along 11 street NE, they are left wondering if and when their beloved street will become a priority.

“My tax dollars don’t matter, if it comes down to money? So should I withhold my tax dollars until the problem is fixed? It’s such a small area, they don’ t care, they just keep sweeping it under the rug,” said Heidenger.

For now, the residents, like others in Crescent Heights say they are left waiting, anxious for what the next storm will bring.

by Tiffany Goodwein

‘We are the drain of the neighbourhood:’ Crescent Heights residents want storm drain fix following years of floods

Our Community