Extreme rainfall brings flood of problems

Heavy rain in Charlottetown Monday morning caused flooding in parts of the city.

One section of Queen Street near Pond Street was knee deep in water, and one car had to be pulled out of the water. Another car got stuck near Joe Ghiz Park. The park and surrounding streets were underwater.

Andy McDonald wasn't able to rescue his water-soaked car until late Monday morning.

"It was up over the front of the bumper this morning," he said. "I couldn't get to the car until the water let go here."

Public Works officials says the problem wasn't just that
a lot of rain fell quickly, but that it all happened right around hightide out in the harbour.

It meant that particularly in low-lying areas there was
nowhere for the water to drain.

Closed streets caused traffic tie-ups in southern parts of the city.

In a 45-minute period around 6 a.m., 20 mm of rain fell on the roof of CBC P.E.I. on University Avenue. Other parts of the province also saw significant rainfall, with a general trend of more rain in the east.

MeterologistKalin Mitchell says it was an "extreme rainfall event".

"You have to keep in mind that the monthly average rain for September is around 90millimetres," he said.

Highest observed rainfall was at Morell, where 104.6 mm of rain fell.

Frustrated driver Cheryl Gillmenhad trouble starting her car Monday morning.

"It was flooded right up to the front tires this morning, and with the street being flooded, it was pretty wet," she said."Pretty frustrating because the kids couldn't catch the bus this morning because of all the rain and you know, they've got toget to school and people have to get to work and they can't."

The drive home for most commuters was a better drive. The skies cleared Monday morning and for the most part, so did the water.