Calgarians clean up from intense storm that downed trees, flooded roads

Global News

7 days ago

Michael Allan probably had better plans for his Monday — but an intense, short-lived storm on Sunday night in his northwest Calgary community of Highwood changed all that.
'It was insane, how bad it was,' Allan said, remembering the toonie-sized hail he said he saw fall in his area just hours prior.
'There's one tree that completely fell down on one lady's gazebo — destroyed it. There's trees that are broken, (crews) had to come in last night using chainsaws.'
During his morning walk through the neighbourhood, the sudden transformation was all around him.
City of Calgary crews — both Parks and Water Services — were so busy on the ground on Monday they were unable to speak to Global News.
The Calgary Fire Department was dispatched to 70 weather-related calls on Sunday evening alone, with most of them coming in a 95-minute span beginning around 8 p.m., a city spokesperson said.
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Most were in relation to power lines brought down by trees, isolated flooding and alarms, the city said.
While city-owned trees bore the brunt of the impact from Sunday's high winds, Calgary arborist Matthew Davis said residents should inspect everything on their property.
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'If the tree has moved off-centre in the past 48 hours or so, and you see any kind of lifting or cracking in the soil on the off-side of that lean, that would definitely be cause for concern,' Davis, the owner of Adair Tree Care, said Monday.
He added persistent rain in the forecast should also keep Calgarians on alert.
'The weight of the precipitation on the foliage is kind of maxed out… we can't see more of that,' Davis said.
'If we see more wind combined with the rain, we can see more problems arise — especially if the wind comes from a different direction or its a higher velocity.'
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About eight kilometres to the southeast of Highwood, Melva Dutallas said the storm only lasted for about 10 minutes in Albert Park-Raddison Heights area.
But immediately after hearing the rain come down, she said her anxiety was starting to rise thinking back to a 2021 downpour that resulted in an insurance claim at her condo complex exceeding a million dollars.
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'(Most of the water) isn't from our property, it's all around us. We're like a funnel here,' Dutalles, who sits on the Albert Park Station condo board, explained.
Dutalles provided video to Global News showing rain coming down towards the complex's entrance from three directions, pooling at the street entrance and flowing through the parking lot.
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Localized flooding left water lapping at the front door of several condo buildings at the Albert Park Station complex on Sunday night. Ivan Pozihun / Supplied
She said it's supposed to be collected at an adjacent park, but the two catch basins there quickly become overwhelmed.
'(The city) already knows the problem really is the catch basin. It's not enough for all the residents around here,' Dutalles said. '(Crews) have helped out in terms of vacuuming the drainage system, but in terms of reviewing the infrastructure, nothing was done.'
While the water on Sunday didn't reach 2021 levels and receded after several hours, Dutalles said residents in her complex worry about a similar situation to the 2021 event every time there's a hard rainfall. She says this is already the third time the parking lot has flooded in 2025.
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'We're really hard up in terms of financials. Our premium went so high because of that claim.'
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With more rain in the forecast nearly every day in Calgary for the upcoming week, residents can only hope they won't be facing a similar mess in the days ahead.