Humboldt recovering after major storm

HUMBOLDT — While the recent storm has caused some property damage, according to the City of Humboldt, the sewer and drainage system is recovering without any damage to the lines or stations.

“The water drained off the roadways very soon after the rainfall event in most areas, however there was the retention pond that took a while to drain. It probably didn’t drain until 10 o’clock or 10:30,” said Peter Bergquist, on June 15.

“From that I think we got out pretty well, for all things considered.”

The storm took place June 14. The Pilger Environment Canada weather station, the one closest to Humboldt, recorded 1.2 inches of rain, but people in Humboldt were telling the Humboldt Journal on Facebook they measured rainfall between 1.8 inches and 3.75 inches, depending where in town they were located.

Mayor Rob Muench declared a local state of emergency at 5:15 p.m. on June 14. Motorists were asked to not drive down streets in northwest Humboldt, including Centennial Way, Barnes Crescent, Thompson Drive, Fifth Avenue near 11th Street, and 17th Street north and south of Highway 5, so that further property damage could be avoided. The city also made a call to residents to check their sump pumps and ensure it wasn’t discharging into the sanitary sewer.

The state of emergency was lifted on June 15.

Bergquist said the sewer system is now performing “close to normal” with some higher flows, but remains within the lift stations parameters.

One lift station required city staff intervention to pump the water levels down with a vacuum truck to prevent the drainage levels from getting too high.

“I’m happy it wasn’t worse than it could have been.”

Berguist said the City of Humboldt has received some calls relating to property damage from the rainfall, but none relating to the sewer.

“Our focus is primarily if there are sanitary issues, sewer backups, and we haven’t received any to my knowledge at this point in time,” he said. “I’m quite happy. Our crews performed as they were trained to, and our sewer lift stations handled the capacity – or the majority handled the capacity sufficiently, so we’re happy with the outcome.”

The City of Humboldt examines sewer infrastructure as it is replaced to see how it can be upgraded for increased intensity storms. Berguist said this will continue to go on as scheduled without any emergency replacements. 

“We continue to do that in the background and hope that the investment pays dividends at the end of the day.”