INNISFAIL – Desperately needed water from Mother Nature came down hard and fast on Victoria Day.
At around 8 p.m. Monday night many in town, especially in the 54th Avenue area, were caught off guard.
But some decided to make the most of it and pulled out their kayaks to take advantage of a fast, tumbling current down the avenue.
And then it was suddenly over.
Ken Kowalchuk, the town’s communications coordinator, said while the downpour was heavy the aftermath was a minor and quick clean up operation.
“This morning all they (public works) said was that there would be some cleanup of some downed branches, and then there was gravel left on the roadway in certain areas where the water had risen,” said Kowalchuk. “And so, they are going to work on cleaning up the roadways. But was a minor cleanup from what I understand.
“It was a short-lived storm; lasted for about 20 minutes,” he added. “But there was a lot of rain. I was looking on my front window and there was practically a river going down my front roadway. We did get a lot of water in a very short amount of time."
In the meantime, Kowalchuk said there was no mention from public works staff about any line repairs, or worrisome damage of any kind.
He added the public works crews confirmed the stormwater system was functioning properly.
"The storm was fairly intense, so a large volume of water entered the system in a very short period of time," he said, adding the water pooled in the area around 54th Avenue but drained quickly as soon as the storm subsided.
However, the 8 p.m. storm was not the end of Mother Nature's fast and hard visit.
Kowalchuk said another storm blew in at about 2 a.m.
“It was very similar. It was just a heavy rainfall within a very short period of time,” said Kowalchuk. “From the town's perspective I don't think anybody really noticed because it was during the middle of the night.”
