'Sewer smell in there is horrible': Saskatoon residents frustrated with city over basements repeatedly flooding
Residents living in the 3400 block of 11th Street W in Saskatoon whose basements have flooded say this isn’t the first time its happened.
Penny Fentiman has lived in her home since 1986 and had restoration crews come to her home twice. On Friday her basement flooded at 8:30 a.m. again at 11 p.m.
“I got up and I heard the toilets kind of gurgling so I went downstairs, and there was water coming out of both drains, one in the furnace room and one in the laundry room,” she told CTV News
“The sewer smell in there is horrible, it’s coming up through all the vents.”
Near-by-neighbour Ryan Doherty says his home is currently “uninhabitable”, with him, his wife, and three children currently living in a hotel.
“Damage that we have here this time is standing backwater in the basement. I came home yesterday morning to a geyser coming up through the floor drains,” Doherty said.
In an email CTV News on Friday, the City of Saskatoon Water and Waste Operations says the sewer blockage was cleared Friday morning and the sanitary main returned to “normal low flows.”
“The incident will be further investigated next week as part of the City’s normal follow-up procedure,” the city said in its statement.
The City is advising residents experiencing damage due to the sewer blockage to follow up with their insurance company. Then, if warranted, their “insurance company can then make a claim against the City on their behalf.”
For Fentiman, this is a road she’d rather not go down as her basement has been flooded twice already and blames it on poor infrastructure. She’s had to make an insurance claim when her basement flooded in the past.
“I’m 66-years-old and I still have to work because everything keeps going up,” said Fentiman.“This happened four years ago, and the City said they were going to take care of it but obviously they didn’t.”
Since purchasing his home in 2011, this is the third time Doherty’s been affected by sewer backup. He says the City of Saskatoon repeatedly told him concerns over infrastructure have been addressed.
“The house is becoming uninsurable. I had to negotiate and was faced with increased premiums as well as an increased deductible,” said Doherty. “I am very frustrated in the city’s inability to find a resolution to the problem.”
Doherty noted the City did pay for his deducible during the second instance of flooding he experienced.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.