Authorities in Calgary continue to monitor the sky closely, as the city’s major rivers are expected to peak on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The latest modeling of the city shows the top of the Bow River, coming on Wednesday night. The Elbow River is expected to peak on Tuesday, with a weather update expected later in the day.
The city remains under a local state of emergency, declared on Monday.
The last:
- Environment Canada issued a wind warning shortly after 11:30 a.m., warning that wet ground from ongoing rain could lead to an increased risk of falling trees.
- The flood warning previously issued for the main trunk of the Haywood River from the High River City to the confluence of the Bow River has been lowered to a high-flow warning.
- City officials have closed part of Memorial Drive to build a temporary berm.
- Plans to build a berm to protect the Bownes community are on hold. Authorities are looking for an alternative solution.
- Sunnis and Bownes residents could see officers walking door to door to warn of evacuation orders if conditions deteriorated.
- Susan Henry, head of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, says she wants to see the forecast for this afternoon before any evacuation decisions are made.
- There are boat recommendations for the Bow and Elbow rivers. Recreational access to the Glenmore Reservoir is limited.
- City officials say it is encouraging to see that the rain is not as heavy as originally forecast.
The two areas that the city remains most concerned about are the Bowness and Sunnyside communities. He closed Memorial Drive between 10th Street NW in the Kensington area and the Edmonton Trail NE
Sunside resident Colton O’Reilly said last night that he had received an emergency call and was waiting to see what would happen next.
“We do not turn our eyes to the river,” he said.
Sunside resident Colton O’Reilly says he hopes mitigation efforts over the past few years can prevent damage from the scale of the 2013 floods (Charlotte Dumoulin / Radio Canada)
This closure was made to build a temporary berm that runs through Memorial Drive. City officials decided to take this mitigation measure on Monday, given the forecast for the coming days.
“There have been no floods yet, but this is a safeguard if the water level reaches what we think it can,” Susan Henry, head of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, told Calgary Eyeopener on Tuesday morning.
City officials earlier lowered the Glenmore Reservoir to reduce incoming water. That’s why officials haven’t been so worried about the Elbow River since Tuesday morning – given that things could change as forecasts change.
“Things are definitely under control. We learned a lot in 2013,” Henry said, referring to a combination of melting snow in the mountains and seemingly endless rainfall that caused $ 5 billion in damage and killed five people in southern Alberta in 2013
“The fact that we are talking about these days before the peak of the river is expected is actually really good news.
“We cannot take all the risk, so we are concerned about areas like Sunside and Bowness. There is a risk for them. “
Susan Henry, head of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, on the left, spoke during a meeting of the Emergency Management Committee on Tuesday morning. Henry said the city wanted to see the next forecast this afternoon before deciding on possible evacuations. (CBC)
On Monday, Calgary Mayor Joti Gondek said the local state of emergency allowed police and firefighters to go door-to-door in the event of an evacuation.
It also gives the city’s water services team access to property to protect critical infrastructure and secure supplies quickly if needed.
In a warning issued shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday, Environment Canada said torrential rains would continue throughout the day, with a total of between 75 and 125 mm of rainfall until Wednesday morning in the Calgary region.
The heaviest rain is expected to fall in the west, the agency said, with a total rainfall of 150 mm or more at the foot and in front of the Rocky Mountains.
The agency said rainfall is expected to decrease on Wednesday.
There is more.
Map of the flood risk area of the city of Calgary
Click on the map below to zoom in and out as well as move. The red zones are potential floods, the dark orange edges of the floods, the light orange floodplains and the yellow land current.
Add Comment