Niverville cleaning up from flash flood

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/08/2014 (3498 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dozens of Niverville residents spent Saturday ripping out carpets and throwing out their now-dampened possessions after a freak storm caused extensive damage.

The clean-up efforts following the brief mid-day storm Friday began in earnest that evening when the town brought out large waste collection bins to three locations. By the next afternoon, a steady stream of community residents—many driving vehicles that were carrying trailers full of trash—were continuing to drop off damaged items.

“It’s been really busy at some times,” said Adrian Unrau, one of two workers helping residents at the Word of Life Church parking lot. 

IAN FROESE | THE CARILLON
Adrian Unrau walks to a nearby truck to get some more garbage to toss into one of the six waste collection canisters placed at the Word of Life Church parking lot on Saturday. Unrau, a local farmer, decided to assist Bristal Hauling with the community clean-up efforts after he was done with his job for the day.
IAN FROESE | THE CARILLON Adrian Unrau walks to a nearby truck to get some more garbage to toss into one of the six waste collection canisters placed at the Word of Life Church parking lot on Saturday. Unrau, a local farmer, decided to assist Bristal Hauling with the community clean-up efforts after he was done with his job for the day.

The sudden flash flood dumped about 50 millimetres of rain in just 20 minutes, with Niverville facing the brunt of it. Unlike in Steinbach, where the overland water largely dissipated by 2 p.m., Niverville’s sewer system became overwhelmed. Hardest hit areas in the town were on the south and west side where roads were transformed into lakes for much of the afternoon.

Town councillor Myron Dyck said it was too early to say how many residences were affected but he said there was at least “several dozen.” He mentioned a property manager at Vista Cove told him that 20 of their 27 units experienced flooding.

Dyck added the three residents he spoke with that owned water gauges said the five-inch gauge on their property was overflowing with water on Friday.

Zach Long and his brother Colton were helping rip out carpets from their place’s basement on Saturday. Water came in through the storm sewer and, coincidence or not, the hot water tank happened to burst around the same time.

Zach Long said he would keep cleaning the rest of the afternoon, but then take a break. He had a Winnipeg Goldeyes game to attend.

“We’re making light of a bad situation,” he smiled.

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