Melting snow has kept Enderby officials and residents busy coping with flooding and slides.
One home had to be evacuated Monday on Granville Street after runoff saturated the hillside and it gave way.
“We’re blessed no one was hurt,” said Mayor Greg McCune.
Engineers ultimately visited the site and while the evacuation order for the house was lifted Tuesday, a garage remains off-limits because of the instability of the slope.
“Every time it sloughs, it turns into a slide,” said Tate Bengtson, the city’s chief administrative officer.
Crews have been scrambling to ensure the situation doesn’t get any worse along Granville Street.
“The work will be quite extensive,” said Bengtson. “We are excavating the bank and pulling away anything at risk of sloughing. We’re armouring the bank with two-foot rock.”
Granville Street remains open but dump trucks are prevalent.
“We ask people to avoid driving up there unless they live up there,” said Bengtson of potential safety risks with large vehicles.
Besides Granville Street, other issues are developing in the community because the ground is still frozen and the melting snow has no where to go but basements and properties.
“It’s a weird circumstance,” said McCune, pointing to a 13 to 14-year-old home on Johnston Street that has been flooded.
“They’ve got water in the home for the first time ever.”
In another case, a resident on Brickyard Road has had pumps running constantly to keep a ditch from overflowing and threatening his home. It hasn’t been very successful.
“It (water) is coming right back to the ditch,” said McCune.
Even city infrastructure is being impacted by the runoff.
“The sewer treatment facility is taking in double the water it usually does,” said McCune.
City staff and council will consider if any infrastructure improvements are needed to minimize the impact of future snowmelt, but McCune admits that it’s difficult to prepare for everything Mother Nature presents.
“We’re doing all we can,” he said.
