Serving the Heart of Central Alberta for 105 years
VOLUME ONE HUNDRED SIX
PM40011853 R08546
NUMBER THIRTY
STETTLER, ALBERTA
July 25, 2012
PRICE – $1.09 Plus GST
Sudden soaking smacks Stettler ‘It was a lot of water in a short period of time,’ says town official RICHARD FROESE Independent reporter Darkening the summer sky, a strong rainstorm with small hail turned many Stettler streets into streams last Wednesday night, but caused little other damage. “We haven’t heard from anybody who had water in their basements,” said Melissa Robbins, the director of operations for the Town of Stettler. The 20-minute storm, which hit at about 7:45 p.m., dumped less than one inch — 27 millimetres, which was recorded for July 18 in three separate storms, according to records from Alberta Agri-Info Centre in Stettler. “If it was 10 or 15 minutes more, we would have been looking at a more serious situation,” Robbins said. “It just overwhelmed the storm main and every pipe got full.” Some streets were almost impassable because of the water accumulation. “I know it was knee deep in some areas and up to three feet in other areas,” Robbins said. “It was a lot of water in a short period of time.” Streets that were hit the hardest were in the areas of 47 Avenue one block north and south between 53 and 56 streets, and the area of 51 Avenue southeast of 67 Street. Aside from some roads immersed in water, no other serious damage was reported in town. As a result, the impact from the latest storm was minor compared to a storm in July 2010, when more than 70 homes reported flooding due to the sanitary system being overloaded. “The town has been taking steps to ensure that all sump pumps that collect storm water infiltration at basements have been disconnected from the sanitary service and the water from sump pumps is released onto the lawn,” Robbins said. “Completing these disconnections saves all of us the damages that a sewer backup can cause in basements.”
RICHARD FROESE/Independent reporter
In the heat of last Wednesday night’s rainstorm, Town of Stettler public works employee Ivan Wilford drains high water on 54 Street. No major damage was reported in town, and flowerbeds at Stettler Community Gardens remained strong and relatively healthy after the storm. Work crews and office staff, and some councillors, responded to the incident, as submerged roads were relatively dry and drained by about 10 p.m. County of Stettler reported no damage or high water or road washouts, said chief administrative officer Tim Fox. While the Town of Stettler reported pellet-sized hail in surrounding parts, the County of Stettler reported hail the size of a dime that levelled gardens and damaged field crops for farmers. Walnut-sized hailstones in the Buffalo Lake south shore area were also reported and caused “serious” damage to many recreation vehicles and travel trailers.
RICHARD FROESE/Independent reporter
A truck driver plows through water on 47 Avenue during last Wednesday’s rain burst in Stettler.
Storm surge crushes crops near Buffalo Lake RICHARD FROESE Independent reporter Hailstones as big as walnuts reportedly levelled crops between Erskine and Buffalo Lake during the severe summer storm that swept across the Stettler region last Wednesday. “ We h a d 5 5 c l a i m s for that day, and five of them had three storms in one day,” said Lorelei Hulston, manager of provincial and central region insurance operations for Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) office in Stettler. That AFSC office covers the County of Stettler, east to Halkirk and north and west to Bashaw. No claims, however, were reported from the Bashaw area, she said. Damage was mixed, and ranged from 10 per cent to 80 per cent, which is considered typical
RICHARD FROESE/Independent reporter
Farm worker Dan Hofer looks over a damaged field after last Wednesday’s rain and hailstorm struck Stettler and area. Lee Brown’s wheat crop north of Erskine was one of the many local fields hit hard in the storm. for hail damage. “The closer to the lake, the damage was more severe,” Hulston said. Farms north of Highway 12 and east of
Highway 56 reported the most claims, as hail in the region ranged from small pea size to as big as “large grapes,” she said. The eye of the storm
locally appeared to be in the Red Willow area, Hulston said. “It was big hailstones, just a little smaller than a golf ball,” said Lee
Brown, who had part of his crop, about 12 kilometres north of Erskine, seriously damaged. “It’s a 100-per-cent claim.”
The wheat stood about two-and-a-half-feet high before the storm slammed the field. “Hail damage affects different crops differently,” Hulton said. Many types of crop might be able to recover, while others are “totally lost,” she said. “Now that the crops are headed and in pod, this damage will impact the yield this year. Canola can be resilient at early stages and can recover quite easily. “Once podded, it is more difficult to recover and has no opportunity to grow more crop.” Fa r t h e r e a s t t o t h e S a s k a t c h ew a n b o r d e r, 59 claims representing 31,000 acres were reported at the Castor office, with damage ranging from 10 per cent to 100 per cent. “The hail was larger than in the Stettler area, some golf-ball to tennisball size,” Hulston said. Mostly, though, the storm covered the area north of Castor and travelled eastward.
Readers can also find the Stettler Independent at stettlerindependent.com