The cost of Edmonton’s summer storm season is becoming more clear, with the city saying the bill is expected to end up somwhere between $20 million and $30 million.
That is not including the most recent storm damage from Saturday night or Monday afternoon.
“I think when you look at the trees and the wind and the rain, all of these things are impacting to create some damaging circumstances for our city and how we get through that is important,” said Edmonton city manager Eddie Robar.
Robar said this is the first time in his current role that he’s seen the aftermath of a summer storm cost more than a winter one.
“We have a financial stabilization reserve, or an FSR, that we use for impacts like this at a one-time cost to the city,” Robar said.
“So we are prepared for these types of things, but certainly these all have impact to our budgets as we move forward.”
With city crews scrambling to keep up with the number of calls to deal with downed branches and damaged trees, the City of Calgary has pitched in some help.
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“It’s to the credit of Edmontonians that they’ve always had our back, and it’s really important for us as Calgarians to have Edmonton’s back,” Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said on Wednesday.
The City of Calgary has sent 12 urban forestry staff, which includes landscape horticulturalists, staff trained in technical falling, forestry ground crew operations and trained labourers. Ten mobility crew members, one foreman, and three waste and recycling service staff members will also be part of the relief effort.
Equipment such as quad cabs, chainsaws, and dump trucks will also be made available.
“It’s about clearing their transportation networks,” Farkas said.
“There’s a lot of damage that’s been caused and we’re going to continue to work closely with City of Edmonton administration to understand what their needs are.”
Robar said the city is grateful for the help.
“Some of the problems we did have recently, especially with Connors Road, was a lot of limbs that were blocking drainage and things like that — trying to get that all cleaned up so that we don’t have the same problems in the future,” he said.
Edmonton will reimburse Calgary for the assistance, although Farkas said the goal right now is to help with the cleanup.
There is no expectation the upcoming city budget for Edmonton will change to account for the amount of unprecedented rainfall.
“These are one-offs that certainly have challenged our systems and our infrastructure like nothing has ever had before and we hope to balance that out in the future,” Robar said.
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