Steinbach City Councillor Susan Penner opened Tuesday’s city council meeting with an emotional and impassioned plea for the city to make drainage improvements a top priority, after last week’s flooding once again damaged homes and businesses across the city. Penner began her remarks by reflecting on the heavy rainfall from September 17, 2024, which left many Steinbach residents dealing with flooded basements. She revealed that her own family had been among those affected. “Last week was exciting for my household. We put the finishing touches on our basement that had flooded on September 17th of last year,” said Penner. “Finally, after all the work, stress, and time we had put into restoring our basement, we were done.” She said she and many others had been told last year’s storm was considered a one-in-100-year event, and believed it was a rare occurrence that would not be repeated any time soon. But less than a year later, on September 12, 2025, her family’s basement was flooded again—this time much more quickly and severely. “At approximately 1:00 a.m., water began pouring up out of our basement drain with so much force, that we didn’t even have time to elevate anything or take anything out,” said Penner. “Our entire basement was flooded for a second time in a year, this time within minutes. And the water didn’t stop coming in for over four hours.” Toll on residents is mounting Penner said it is difficult to put into words how devastating and demoralizing flooding is to experience even once, let alone multiple times. She emphasized that the emotional, physical, and financial toll is significant and is affecting dozens of households and businesses across Steinbach. She shared the story of a couple in their 70s who told her they had to borrow money to repair their basement after the 2024 flood, and are still making payments. Their basement filled with three feet of water this time, and they will have to borrow again to fix it. She said they now worry about who will want to buy their home after it has flooded twice, and that their retirement plans are being upended. Penner also spoke of renters living in basement suites who lost everything they owned and do not have the option to live upstairs while repairs are done, and of residents who can no longer get flood insurance and must now pay for damage out of pocket. “Consider those whose biggest asset – their house – is losing resale value,” she said. “Consider all the people who are now living in fear every time they see a rain cloud.” Calls for urgency from the city Penner questioned why the city has not treated flooding with greater urgency, noting that her own street has seen repeated flooding over the years and that other areas of Steinbach have experienced the same. “We can say that these two rain events were outliers, but the fact is many people on my street have flooded multiple times over the years,” said Penner. “And there are other areas of the city that have experienced regular flooding as well, whether overland or from drains. Where’s the urgency to deal with this from the City side?” She pointed to infrastructure concerns such as streets and private parking lots effectively functioning as retention ponds during major rainfalls, which causes overland flooding, and sump pumps draining into the city system, which adds to pressure on the drainage network. She said the city can no longer plan based on how the system is supposed to work. “We have to start looking at what IS happening, not what should happen,” said Penner. “There is a drainage issue and we need to do something about it. Not in the five-year plan, not in the ten-year plan, but now.” Pushing for immediate and long-term solutions Penner urged council to consider shifting other projects to make room for urgent drainage improvements and suggested fast-tracking Steinbach’s Climate Change Adaptation Plan to access federal funding. She also said temporary measures should be explored while long-term solutions are developed. “We need to figure out what is going on and increase our capacity to drain, reroute, or divert water faster,” she said. “And if temporary measures need to be implemented while a long-term solution is figured out, we need to do that too.” Penner concluded her comments with a commitment to action. “To residents who flooded last week, my heart goes out to you and I commit to keeping this at the forefront until something is done about it,” she said. Her remarks were met with a round of applause from people in the gallery, with many visibly moved by her words. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }