Edna Krenbrink is at her wit’s end.
The 72-year-old widow lost just about all of her family memorabilia in the Aug. 22 flood last year and ongoing issues with the town’s drainage system have resulted in two more sewer backups in storms since then, with the most recent resulting from the July 27 thunderstorm.
Having lost her husband in 2011 and her daughter in 2006, the damage has hit her especially hard.
“I had three feet of sewer backup,” she said, holding back tears. “I lost everything. The pictures I had of my daughter’s wedding, they’re gone. They were in a safe that was supposed to be waterproof and fireproof, but it was full of water. My wills and my twin brother’s will are gone. It’s been hell.”
“A cloud comes and I panic. I once was spunky, but now I look at everything and wonder what the hell I’m doing this for.”
Krenbrink is one of many people living in the area of 105 St. and 102 Ave. who have dealt with repeated sewer backups in the last year. Now trying to avoid a third flood insurance claim by cleaning up the sewage herself, she’s worried that her home may become uninsurable and unsellable.
She’s not alone.
“After the flood in August last year everyone said it was a once in a 100 years event,” said resident Sabine Cane. “Then June 9 comes along this year, we flood again. We have weeping tile, we’ve paid and had a backflow valve put in. The town needs to realize that as homeowners we have spent lots of money and we now have done everything we can. The plumbers are saying there’s nothing else we can do.”
Town of Westlock acting chief administrative officer Simone Wiley confirmed that the town was dealing with storm water flowing into the town’s sewer system, chiefly because the speed and intensity of the rain overwhelms it.
She noted that part of the town’s 2017 capital budget was hiring an engineering firm to assess the town’s storm master plan and offer recommendations on what the town can do to fix it.
Wiley pointed out that much of the infrastructure in question was built in the 1970s under much lower safety standards.
“We have a lot of older homes in town. When they were constructed a lot of them allowed some drainage into the sanitary system, which is no longer allowed but in the 1970s it was okay,” she said. “We are trying to understand how we can fix this going forward.”
She added that many of the problems residents experienced in the July 27 flood resulted from high winds moving debris around town, which covered a number of catch basins and forced the water to flow elsewhere.
“As soon as we can get out there and uncover the catch basins, the water starts to recede a lot quicker,” she said.
Wiley downplayed concerns about adding more homes to existing water lines, noting that the upcoming Westgate Business Park and Greenfield Estates would complete a previous drainage system that was left unfinished by an earlier development project.
“The pond is not constructed to a finished state – it’s basically just a hole with no inlet or outlet. We are working with the developer very closely on their storm water management plan,” she said. “The development should help the existing conditions in that area.”
While the report is due before the October municipal election, that has not stopped sitting town councillors and mayor Ralph Leriger from saying that drainage is one of the biggest issues facing the town going forward.
Wiley said that the town was still working with the province to secure Disaster Recovery Program funding for businesses affected by the August 2016 flood and that there would be an avenue for residents to be able to make claims with the province as well, though she had no details on how that program would work yet.
For Krenbrink, a fix can’t come fast enough.
“I don’t know what to do anymore,” she said. “I’m tired of crying every time it rains. I’m getting to be a nervous wreck.”
