The City of Edmonton was under a severe thunderstorm warning for part of Wednesday afternoon and Mother Nature certainly delivered.
Heavy rain, cracks of thunder and bolts of lightning covered the south side and even resulted in a few power outages.
Global Edmonton Meteorologist said parts of southeast Edmonton saw more than 50 mm of rain.
Hail the size of large pebbles also came down hard in southeast Edmonton.
“The skies basically opened up for an hour, flooded everything out,” Adam Smith said. “It was crazy…it was just like a wall of rain.”
Watch below: City of Edmonton crews were still cleaning up and repairing traffic lights Wednesday night after a severe summer storm rocked Edmonton earlier in the afternoon. The storm caused flash flooding and shut down one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares. Shallima Maharaj has the latest.
A driver tried to get through his work site, but the truck got stuck in the rising water.
“It looked like he was trying to get through and it died,” Smith said. “We didn’t know there was anyone in there until the fire department showed up.”
He said the water was close to half a metre deep and cars weren’t making it through.
There were flooded streets in several areas downtown. Another intersection was flooded at 99 Street and 51 Avenue.
Drivers were stuck in their cars as water levels on Whitemud Drive at 106 Street rose quickly.
At 9 p.m., the city said 11 drainage crews were still working to replace manholes and to deal with flooded areas in Mill Woods as well as the downtown core.
The city also tweeted that Whitemud Drive remained closed at 106 Street. According to the city, the storm knocked out 50 traffic lights and as of 9 p.m., 40 were still in need of repair. The city was reminding citizens to call 311 to report any traffic lights that still weren’t working.
Watch below: Edmonton was pummeled by a severe storm on Wednesday that knocked out dozens of traffic lights and caused flash flooding on some of the city’s busiest thoroughfares. Some cars were actually floating on Whitemud Drive. Laurel Gregory spoke to a driver for whom the chaos took quite a toll.
Traffic from the Whitemud was being rerouted to 51 Avenue, but was significantly backed up.
Employees at The Filter Shop in south Edmonton noticed the water levels rising and tried to move supplies and equipment off the floor and onto tables so it wouldn’t be damaged.
“It was coming down pretty hard, with hail on top,” Sylvan Boraski said of the heavy rain.
He said the laneway behind the shop usually floods during severe storm events, but not this badly.
“It was flooded, cars stalling in the streets, out in our backyard everything was flooding,” Boraski said. “It was quite a surprise. I was shocked.”
There were also some bus detours due to road closures as a result of the storm.
The severe thunderstorm warning was downgraded to a watch for Edmonton around 3:30 p.m.
Watch below: A timelapse of the thunderstorm that hit Edmonton Wednesday, July 27, 2016.
The water even began causing trouble for Edmonton’s Varscona Theatre, but friends quickly helped get it out of the entrance way.
Watch below: The City of Edmonton was under a severe thunderstorm warning Wednesday afternoon.
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