Fast melt swamps city storm drains

The city is receiving hundreds of calls about flooded residential streets and basements as Calgary's chinook weather continues.

With the fire department and city water crews struggling to respond to all the calls about blocked storm drains, the city is prioritizing the trouble spots as it becomes aware of them, said Bill Boyes, an official with the city's water services department.

"Anything that is dealing with property damage, anything to deal with going into people's homes — stuff like that we put an urgent priority on. Or an emergency priority, depending on the severity of that call," he said.

Because fire crews have only a limited supply of submersible pumps, the department is asking residents to try to clear drains in front of their homes to prevent water from pooling, officials said.

"It's getting to that point in some places where the water's backing up, getting high enough to start entering people's yards, flowing towards their windows," said Ernie Molineaux, a battalion chief with the Calgary fire department.

Communities all over the city are affected, Boyes said, as the melting snow overwhelms the drains or ice stops the water from going down catch basins.

There are eight to 15 crews out answering calls and the work will continue around the clock, he said.