On June 23, more than 12,000 gallons of rainwater poured into Cheryl Alexus' basement at 434 First Street. The water had flowed downhill from Perkins Street and began steadily pooling up against a berm, out in front of Alexus' house. The berm, which was put up to protect against flooding, was evidently no match for the large amount of rain flowing down the street. Soon, the water overtook the temporary blockade, and began gushing into Alexus' basement through a hole in the front yard, which had been made earlier in the day while crews put in new sewer lines.
"All of a sudden the water just started to shoot through. It just let loose, and it filled the basement in 10 minutes," said Alexus' boyfriend, Tim Wishart, who was in the house at the time.
The water came in so quick, and in such huge supply that there was little Alexus and Wishart could have done to reduce the damage. The debate now, however, is whether more could have been done in the hours beforehand in order to prevent the catastrophe from happening.
Alexus and Wishart, however, believe the flood happened due to human error, and want to see the City workers held liable for negligence. The City maintains it had no wrongdoing in the matter.
Meanwhile, Alexus has spent nearly three months without a home to stay in, and just wants some help to have the damage debts paid off.
Her story is very different, although equally as harrowing, as those of the flood victims in Maple Creek and Yorkton.
Alexus had moved into the house on First Street about four weeks before the flood took place. Shortly after moving into her new home, she decided to have the sewer lines replaced in the 53-year-old house. While doing so, a plumber advised Alexus that she have the sewer lines on the outside of the house checked as well. Soon after, City workers visited the house to check on the sewer lines running from the street to the curb (the City's responsibility), and determined that they, too, needed to be replaced.
Having already put new sewer lines in her home, and with plans in place to have the City's sewer lines replaced, Alexus thought it would be appropriate to have the remaining sewer pipes, from the yard to the curb, updated as well.
Glen Peterson Construction Ltd. arrived at the house on June 23, contracted by the City to replace the lines on both sides of the curb. City workers did the work on the street side, while Peterson's employees did the work in Alexus' yard. The Peterson track hoe was used by both parties to complete the work.
At about 3:30 p.m., after all of the new piping had been put into place, the City worker in charge told the hoe operator to shut down - they would return the next day to have the topsoil put back on the yard, which would mark an end to the project.
At this time, the entire yard had been dug up, and a large mound of dirt stood at the front of the yard, with a large hole exposed, leading into the basement.
As was the case during much of the spring, thunderstorms were in the forecast for the entire day.
The Peterson track hoe operator, who was of the mind that the hole should be filled that afternoon, said he would be able to have the topsoil put back into place within an hour-and-a-half. The track hoe, however, was unable to get at the dirt and get close enough to the house to fill the yard because the gas line to the home, which runs along the street in front of the house, had been uncovered during work on the City's sewer lines.
In order to allow the track hoe a chance to get at the mound of dirt, the City would need to bring in a back loader to fill the street. According to Wishart, the City was unwilling to pay the overtime to bring in the loader and shut down the operation until the next day.
"They shut down our operator and the hoe, and it was something to do with overtime, that's what my operator told me," said Tyler Peterson, general manager of Peterson's Sand and Gravel Division, who was unable to go into further detail due to possible insurance ramifications on his company's side, as well.
"We were just the contractor hired by the City, that's all we were ... we would normally fill our holes every night, but when you're shut down..." Peterson trailed off.
The workers on the scene did, however put up a temporary blockade along the street to protect the open yard, in case of heavy rainfall.
Needless to say, less than three hours later, at 6:10 p.m., the rain started coming down in droves, and the neighbourhood became a flood zone.
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