Severe thunderstorm flooding shuts down Whitemud Drive in west Edmonton – Edmonton

A stretch of Whitemud Drive was shut down in west Edmonton after a severe thunderstorm dumped massive amounts of rain Saturday night, triggering many calls to 911.

Geysers of water were seen shooting from manholes along the freeway in west Edmonton, where several underpasses flooded.

The 170 Street underpass became a lake, where firefighters were deployed to help some people stuck on the side of the embankment between the northbound and southbound overpass bridges.

Vehicle traffic was forced to turn around and go back the way they came from on the one-way freeway lanes and even the side ramps were impassable in spots.

Three vehicles became stuck at the eastbound 170 Street off-ramp, where a dip in the road collected around two feet of water.

Around 10:30 p.m., Edmonton police said the entire Whitemud was closed between 156 Street and 178 Street.

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Police said the storm and ensuing runoff caused significant issues on roadways across Edmonton, so all drivers were advised to not travel unless necessary.

Several other roads around the city also flooded and emergency crews were dispatched to help drivers, including on Yellowhead Trail from 82 Street to 156 Street, Jasper Avenue from 82 Street to 92 Street, and 97 Street where it dips down under an old rail bridge between 104 and 105 avenues.

The swift-moving storm had people at KDays to take shelter inside the Expo Centre and forced the Post Malone concert at Commonwealth Stadium to end early. Concertgoers took shelter inside the concourse as fierce winds and sideways rain pelted the stadium.

Edmonton police asked people to also avoid the area around Commonwealth Stadium and the Expo Centre, including 112 Avenue from Wayne Gretzky Drive to 97 Street, to allow people to leave safely.

Emergency dispatch 911 began experiencing what police said was an “exceptionally high volume” due to the storm, which EPS said may impact response and wait times.

For non-emergency matters, people were asked to contact the appropriate non-emergency resources in order to keep 911  lines available for those in urgent need.

The EPS non-emergency line is 780-423-4567 or #377 within the city.

The storm that swept over Edmonton was one of several waves of storm systems Environment Canada meteorologists were tracking Saturday night.

When issuing weather warnings, the agency said the dangerous thunderstorm was capable of producing damaging wind gusts, loonie- to ping pong ball-size hail and heavy rain.

The storm cell, which stretched from Barrhead in the north to Leduc in the south, was moving east at 45 km/h, and the warnings said it came with a risk of tornadoes.

Earlier in the evening around 7 p.m., a tornado warning was issued west of Edmonton in Yellowhead County near Peers and Niton Junction.

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