Sinkhole closes westbound Yellowhead Trail at St. Albert Trail

A sinkhole in an underpass that flooded during Wednesday night's wild rainstorm has shut down the westbound lanes of Edmonton's Yellowhead Trail.

The major east-west thoroughfare is completely shut down at St. Albert Trail due to the sinkhole, Edmonton Police Service said in a tweet early Thursday morning.

It had previously been expected that the sinkhole would affect only one lane of traffic on the Yellowhead.

The underpass was one of the worst affected by flash flooding during the Wednesday evening rainstorm. Localized flooding was reported at multiple intersections in the city, which stranded some motorists in Edmonton's northwest.

Clare Graff with Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said multiple vehicles were caught at the underpass on St. Albert Trail and Yellowhead Trail, though no injuries were reported.

As of 10:15 p.m., everyone in the vehicles that were stuck under the underpass had made it out safely. Graff said the rescue was a combined effort between the fire department, Edmonton police and EMS.

Westbound traffic on Yellowhead Trail at St. Albert Trailwas diverted Wednesday eveningdue to underpass flooding. Drivers are being asked to avoid Yellowhead Trail between 142nd Street and 127th Street.

Graff said there was flooding at multiple underpasses on Yellowhead Trail and advised drivers use caution and try to avoid them if possible

Georgina De Cordova, spokesperson for Epcor said there were more than 100 calls due to flooding Wednesday evening, the majority due to road and underpass flooding. Residents who witness flooding or see open manholesare encouraged to call 311.

Firefighters also responded to a call of a house that was struck by lightning in the area of 105th Street and 71st Avenue, though no smoke or fire was reported.

According to Environment Canada's website, Edmonton was hit 38.8millimetres of rain on Wednesday, making it the wettest July 17 on record.

Andy Yun, a meteorologist with Environment Canada said Edmontonians can probably expect more rain on Thursday.

"It's been a fairly unsettled weather pattern that's come in over top of us," Yun said.

"It's been that way for quite a few days and it'll probably be that way for a few more days, at least until early next week."

So far this month, Edmonton has received about 96 millimetres of precipitation. In the last 25 years, there have been five in which total precipitation for July topped 100 millimetres.

• 2001: 132 millimetres
• 2004: 150.8 millimetres
• 2010: 100.2 millimetres
• 2011: 117.8 millimetres
• 2012: 134.4 millimetres