An unexpected deluge turned an underground parking lot at a Vancouver apartment complex into an impromptu swimming pool over the weekend. Residents of an Arbutus Ridge building found themselves startled awake on Saturday by blaring car alarms as the parkade became inundated with murky water.
Ingrid Kastens, a resident, described the surreal scene: “There were tires bobbing around in the basement. A neighbor attempted to move his car, but it ended up marooned because the area had turned into a lake, submerging everyone’s vehicles.” Among the casualties was a rare collector’s edition Ferrari autographed by Michael Schumacher, almost entirely submerged and heavily damaged.
Kastens expressed astonishment, stating, “I’ve lived here for 20 years and never witnessed anything like this before.” City officials traced the flooding back to a ruptured water main near Yew and West 32nd Avenue, unleashing a torrent that traveled half a kilometer down the street.
In addition to the submerged parking lot, four basement units were also impacted, displacing residents whose water heaters and furnaces sustained flood damage. Miraculously, the building’s electrical room emerged unscathed. The City of Vancouver confirmed that repairs on the aging water main have been completed, attributing the failure to the mains’ age and local ground conditions.
With Vancouver’s antiquated water infrastructure facing mounting pressure from rapid urbanization, the community hopes that such catastrophic flooding incidents do not become a recurring occurrence.