Two homes were damaged and six were temporarily evacuated Saturday morning along Harper Road in Coquitlam as a result of flooding from last Friday's massive rainstorm.
Brad Lofgren, the city's director of public works, said a temporary private drainage connection on a construction site became blocked, flooding the area.
"The water then flowed over a retaining wall, causing damage to two homes," he told The Tri-City News. "[Coquitlam] Fire/Rescue and public works attended the site and cleared the blockage to get the surface drainage back into the storm system.
"Six homes were temporarily evacuated as a safety precaution and residents were allowed to return to their homes by Saturday afternoon."
The Harper Road flooding was one of several incidents crews worked to fix during and after the storm, which saw 140.8 mm of rain fall within a 24-hour period on Friday, according to figures from the Burke Mountain rain gauge.
On Pipeline Road, another private drain pipe was blocked, which triggered a small landslide in the 1400-block. Lofgren said crews were able to stabilize the banks after consulting with a geotechnical engineer, which allowed them to clear the road of debris and re-establish a ditch to help water flows.
He added that Partington Creek overflowed its banks, causing some damage to Cedar Drive and there were some minor washouts along sections of Quarry Road.
It helped that city staff knew the massive rainfall was coming, Lofgren said.
In the lead-up to the storm, he said crews were busy checking drainage and storm systems to make sure they were clear of debris.
"The city's preparation in advance of last weekend's event helped reduce the potential impacts to Coquitlam and we feel our crews did a fantastic job," he said.
It is still too early to say what the damage and work will cost the city but Lofgren said so far, the weekend's weather event bill has run close to $55,000.
"But there will be additional contractor and material costs, which have yet to be invoiced," he added.
Coquitlam was not the only municipality struggling to manage last week's huge rainfall.
In Port Coquitlam, localized flooding hit at least five areas, including Cedar Park, an area north of Devon Road and up Cedar Drive. The worst of the flooding hit near the banks of the Coquitlam River around Kingsway Avenue and Bedford Street, and along Coast Meridian Road near Hyde Creek.
Saturday morning, PoCo Mayor Brad West told The Tri-City News city staff were taking stock of the damage and were moving into the cleanup phase.
And while West said he was proud of the way staff and emergency services executed their jobs — many working throughout the night — he also said the city would be assessing their performance in the coming days.
“We weren't caught flatfooted," he said. "We were able to deal with it to the best of our ability right away. But I think, obviously, anytime you go through something like that you want to reflect upon what has occurred,” he said, adding city staff would be debriefing city council at its next meeting, Feb. 11.
– with files from Stefan Labbé
