(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW staff)

By Ben Tompkins

Flooding streets?

Heavy melting hitting the northeast

Apr 10, 2023 | 5:32 PM

The Easter bunny wasn’t the only thing brought to the northeast, courtesy of the holiday weekend, as warmer temperatures and melting snow decided to join in on the party.

The temperatures have now gone above zero, which has caused a steady flow of water down city streets.

According to the City of Humboldt, they have planned for such an occasion.

“We do have quite a bit of snow still sitting around, and now with the warmer weather, we are looking to make sure that we have all of our catch basins and storm mains thawed,” said Public Works Director, Peter Bergquist.

“In addition, we have cleared our drainage channels, so we can have the water move efficiently, but not too quickly, so it creates issues downstream. We will be monitoring it and making sure that everything works as it should.”

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Residents also have a part to play in the operation, as they can prevent damage to their home’s foundations.

“If homeowners do have a history of water going into their basements, it’s a good idea to remove that snow away from their foundation. In addition to that, make sure your downspouts are a good six feet away from the foundation, and that will prevent any type of water from running down downspouts or in the area to affect the foundation as well,” he added.

“Make sure sump pumps are functioning well and putting the water outside away from the house, and other than that, just give a location for the water to run, so it can run to the catch basins.”

The city isn’t expecting any complications, however, should any arise, they are more than happy to assist in any way they can.

“As long as the catch basins are open, they should handle the water flows fairly reasonably, depending on what the temperature is, of course, but even with a warm temperature melt that should handle it no problem,” Bergquist explained.

“The biggest thing is, don’t put snow onto the roadway or public right of way, keep the snow on private property and just let it melt and runoff…if the catch basins aren’t open, you can call the city and we can send our crews out there to thaw them.”

northeastNOW also reached out to the City of Melfort and the Town of Nipawin for comments, however, neither got back in time for publishing.

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