A one-day rainfall free-for-all has rung up a $500,000 tab in the city and the piper is now demanding to be paid.
The deluge that socked the city with 38 millimetres (two inches) on June 23—and a total of 89.7 mm. (four inches) June 22-27—took a toll on the city’s infrastructure and property, and now a bill has been sent to the province to help soak up the incurred costs and damages.
City manager of public works, Larry Abenante, said the clean up and remediation of several sites throughout the city is ongoing while they await word on how much of the bill the Provincial Emergency Program will pay.
“We had to give them a ballpark figure,” he said Tuesday. “They just needed to know we need assistance with all of this.”
He also said there were rough estimates for total damage to private residences in the rain event of up to $750,000—a matter the city does not get involved in.
When the rain pelted down June 23, creek banks eroded, slopes came crashing down and floodwater washed debris off of bluffs throughout Trail, forcing street closures and prompting the city to investigate the higher reaches surrounding Trail for more potential disasters.
As a result, a geo-technician’s report on the ‘S’ Hill Road and other areas of the city landed on Abenante’s desk Tuesday showed the city still has much work to do to dig out from the event, and repair the damage done.
Concentrated storm water runoff created considerable damage to the ‘S’ Hill near AM Ford, the report read, coupled with related flooding to at least two homes down at the bottom of the hill.
“It appears surface water runoff in three sources including Highway 3B caused considerable sand erosion from the Highway Drive ditch and below, from about one to 1.5 metres deep,” the report noted.
The report recommended a paved or concrete ditch along the ‘S’ Hill, which could prevent future erosion.
Fallen rock and debris still have to be cleared from Sunningdale and Gorge creeks, as well as removal of a watershed debris slide at lower Gorge Creek and its lookouts.
There is some slumping of the bluff above and onto Warren Street, while rock has fallen at the intersection of Buckna Street and Austad Lane.
In East Trail, where McQuarrie Creek intersects Goepel Road between Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital and J.L Crowe High School, a creek channel is still in need of repair.
A big rock came off of the bluff and lodged itself into Buckna Street and now needs to be removed, while a Warren Lane wall has to be repaired due to slope movement. City workers will also be up Violin Lake road to the West Trail water tanks after the road was partially washed out, requiring repair.
On Sunday during Canada Day another rain event created some minor problems for city crews, including a water main break in Muriel Heights, storm sewer seepage in West Trail and a Columbia Avenue sewer blockage.
“So this is still the backlash from the (June) rain storms but it is all little stuff,” said Abenante.