Edmonton homeowners still dealing with flooded basements after heavy rainfall
Posted July 16, 2026 6:45 pm.
Edmonton homeowners are still dealing with flooded basements, as the region is on track for the wettest summer on record, and for one first-time homeowner, it’s a rough learning lesson as they are finding out their insurance doesn’t cover flooding.
Sarah Dhanoo has to juggle her 1-year-old while cleaning up her flooded basement for the fourth time this summer.
“It’s frustrating. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. It’s exhausting,” said Dhanoo.
Insurance denied her claim, her policy insurance denied her claim, her policy does not cover this type of water seepage.
“We can see in the future that it’s going to cost us tens of thousands of dollars, and unfortunately, that is not something we have in our pockets, and we’ve got to save money where we can,” said Dhanoo.
But even for those who have insurance, finding someone to make a repair could take months.
“So I called my insurance provider as soon as I found out it was a flood, but there’s nobody available. All the major companies are all flat out, so then I had to reach out to a friend of mine, and they were able to come the next day,” said Samuel Huberdeau, a property owner.
As companies big and small find themselves flooded with calls, like Melseth Contracting Inc., which is getting a lot more than their usual five calls per month.
“Like around 25 to 45 calls per month … just the other day we received five calls in the same, like in the first two hours of the morning,” said Suzette Macalanda, the project manager of Melseth Contracting Inc.
Repairs can take months. Edmonton’s Telus World of Science closed until at least November because of extensive water damage.
EPCOR says this summer’s heavy rain is challenging the system as a whole.
“We’ve seen rainfall events that have approached 100-year levels, and that can certainly challenge our system. When you see that amount of rainfall in a very short period of time, it can challenge the capacity of our collection system,” said Anthony Nardi, the senior director of Linear Asset Operations at EPCOR.
For homeowners like Huberbeau, as he deals with backed-up sewage, he’s just bracing for the next storm.
“We’re almost at a point of no return where every time it rains we expect water to come up. So it’s like, you know, we don’t know what to do anymore. All we can do is mitigate,” said Huberdeau.
For a first-time homeowner like Dhanoo, she has some advice when looking for insurance.
“Really understand what you’re covered for, and kind of just know what you’re getting yourself into, and know what you’re paying for as well,” said Dhanoo.
