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Drivers were stranded in the Whitemud underpasses at 111 Street and 106 Street. The freeway reopened around midnight.

The city could build giant underground cisterns or upgrade the pipes to handle larger storms, but its flood prevention budget is mostly earmarked to protect residential areas, a project already estimated to cost $2.4 billion.

Plus, said Wyman, “we can always have a storm that’s bigger than what we build.”

A more likely option is new flashing lights or other warnings to direct drivers to the off-ramps when flooding is imminent. These could be remotely activated when the city’s new radar station or other warning systems detect a severe storm. City crews could shut the road as soon as they can get there.

“For me, we can’t get this done fast enough,” said Coun. Michael Walters, who lives nearby and has been pushing the city to move faster on its climate adaptation strategy. “We have the technology to anticipate these storms. I don’t want to see anyone stranded on that section of road again.”

Up to 70 millimetres of rain fell in two hours in some parts of Edmonton on Wednesday afternoon, with Argyll getting the heaviest deluge. The city received 275 calls to 311 between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., with more in the evening. Most of the calls were for flooding on roads, but 30 calls related to residential flooding.

Power was knocked out in parts of the city during the storm. About 100 traffic lights stopped working. One man was struck by lightning.

Wyman said the city also had reports of manholes flying off and water spouting like geysers, with a particularly bad one at Calgary Trail and 30 Avenue. Photos of it on Twitter showed water spraying higher than roof tops.