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“However, I want to remind everyone that the weather is very dynamic and the conditions of the river can change very, very quickly.”
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June 14, 2022 • 18 minutes ago • 5 minutes reading • 9 comments City teams are building a berm through the NW Drive along the Bow River Trail to protect Sunside from potential flooding on Tuesday. Azin Gafari / Postmedia
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Calgary is likely to evacuate evacuation orders and floods from heavy rains this week, city officials said in an emergency.
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Speaking on Tuesday afternoon after heavy rainfall eased, Calgary Water Director Francois Bouchard said the flood was ultimately less severe than the unsettling one, leaving Bow and Elbow levels well below the upper limits of forecasts. officials.
“We are very optimistic about the results and what will develop over the next day and a half as we see these peaks pass through the city,” Bouchard said, adding that any additional rain in the city since Tuesday afternoon has been t expected to affect flood forecasts.
“But I want to remind everyone that the weather is very dynamic and the conditions on the river can change very, very quickly.”
Memorial Drive is closed between 10 p.m. NW and Edmonton Trail NE due to flood fears Tuesday, June 14, 2022 Azin Ghaffari / Postmedia
Calgary Emergency Management Agency chief Sue Henry reiterated these comments, saying the city “has not yet come out of the woods.” But it was an improved forecast from earlier in the morning, when authorities did not rule out possible evacuations in the northwestern communities of Bownes and Sunside.
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The local state of emergency remains in place for Calgary. The declaration gives the city exclusive powers to deal with emergencies, including allowing police and firefighters to go door-to-door to keep residents informed of evacuation orders.
Meanwhile, Environment Canada issued a wind warning for Calgary on Tuesday, as gusts of up to 90 km / h hit the city throughout the afternoon. The federal agency said wet ground from rainfall could increase the risk of falling trees and warned that tiles and windows could be damaged.
The wind warning ended shortly after 4 p.m.
Calgary firefighters clear a tree that fell on Edgemont Blvd. NW as strong winds and rain hit the city on Tuesday. Gavin Young / Postmedia
City company Enmax has reported power outages in several communities during the wind storm, mostly in the northwest, and said additional teams are working to restore the service.
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Calgary Transportation said some traffic lights in the city were flashing or empty, and some downed trees were reported in the early afternoon. The fallen trees took over fire crews across the city, and officers asked Calgary residents to call 311 to report fallen trees to public property.
Elbow River water levels were expected to peak on Tuesday night and were not thought to pose a flood risk. The Bow River peak was expected on Wednesday morning, with the city saying it expects to be able to manage the streams without localized flooding.
Henry said Tuesday afternoon that she was unaware of any reports of a basement flooding at the time.
The underpass under the bridge on 10th Street is closed due to fears of flooding on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Azin Ghaffari / Postmedia
Some of the city’s flood mitigation efforts have been made throughout Calgary, most notably the construction of a temporary berm at Memorial Drive. This barrier is 88 meters of clay near 3rd Street NW, which connects to an existing berm in the west and construction was expected to be completed late Tuesday.
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This temporary barrier has been raised with great attention, Bouchart said after water flowed from the area west of Sunside during the 2013 Calgary floods.
Memorial Drive is closed indefinitely between 10th Street NW and Edmonton Trail NE. Officials said they were monitoring another weather system, which is currently expected to hit Calgary on June 20th, which could affect their decisions on when to remove the temporary berm and reopen the road.
City teams are building a berm through Memorial Drive NW along the Bow River Trail to protect Sunside from potential flooding on Tuesday. Azin Gafari / Postmedia
Mike Bradfield lives in Sunnyside on 1st Avenue SW and his home was flooded several times during the 2013 floods.
He said he and his neighbors were relieved that they seemed to avoid the floods after spending the last few days on the edge. He said the city needs to invest in permanent flood mitigation solutions, mainly by raising the height of the existing berm to withstand heavier floods.
He was pleased with the temporary clay berm placed through Memorial Drive, but said it would not be necessary if the city had moved to actively strengthen the permanent berm.
“We’re glad they did, but it’s a symbol of a terrible failure for them to really get the job done, the job they already had to do,” Bradfield said.
Some low-lying trails and park areas along the Bow River are also closed due to the risk of flooding; A map of these closures can be found on the Calgary City website. The city also lowered the level of the Glenmore Reservoir in anticipation of torrential rains.
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The city has also deployed pumps in areas including Sunside and Bowness, as well as several points on the Elbow River, to mitigate the risk of flooding, including from water coming through storm sewers. Water levels in other low-lying areas such as Bridgeland and Inglewood have not reached the threshold needed to start pumping water.
Part of the reason for the more optimistic forecast for local floods is due to some precipitation in the Rocky Mountains, which falls like snow, Bouchard said.
“The fact that we have snow falling, not rain, means that we are actually looking at a better situation than we expected,” he said.
At least two house evacuations have been identified, identified as endangered under McHugh Bluff, between Crescent Heights and Sunside. The city recently closed a bluffing path at least until the fall of 2023 due to concerns about the stability of the slope.
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Boating and other river activities are currently banned, and Calgary fire crews said they did not have to carry out any rescue operations.
Water had accumulated on some roads in the city, forcing the detours and the closure of the lanes. The city closed at 4 pm Bownes Park, St. Patrick’s Island and Prince Island Park, which the authorities described as a proactive solution, as they continue to monitor water levels.
Calgary residents have been asked to call 311 to report floods in emergencies.
There were no early estimates of the cost of responding to the disaster on Tuesday afternoon, Calgary Mayor Joti Gondek said. Alberta’s Minister of the Environment and Parks Jason Nixon said the province has set aside $ 1 billion in its 2022 budget for municipal disasters and emergency aid.
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The path under the bridge on 10th Street is closed. Azin Gafari / Postmedia
Elsewhere, the Alberta Environment has issued numerous flood warnings, clocks and tips west of Calgary. These include flood warnings on the Little Red Deer River and recommendations for a high flow of the Bow River in Banff, Canmore and the Exhaust and tributaries of the river upstream of Calgary. No effects on Fish Creek were expected.
South of Calgary in Futhills County, emergency officials said several flood warnings had been reduced to recommended, including in the High River town. The area was among the worst affected by floods in 2013.
“I think it brought back some bad memories of 2013, but at the same time I think people also know they’re better prepared than they were then,” said Darling Roblin, manager of the Futhills County Emergency Services. .
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“We are moving in the right direction at the moment, so we are grateful for that, but it is always good to prepare for this worst-case scenario.”
Flood mitigation work has been on west of Calgary all Tuesday. In Cochrane, employees are pumping water to flood the Co-op Cardlock station. Banff crews have installed temporary dams on city streets as a barrier to protect homes from raging waters.
The Alberta River Forecasting Center said there were 60 to 80 millimeters of rain at about 3pm on Tuesday in areas with heavier rainfall, with local highs of up to 110mm recorded west of Calgary.
They forecast an additional 20-30 mm of rainfall for the rest of Tuesday, with “prolonged rain activity” possible on Wednesday.
jherring@postmedia.com
Twitter: @jasonfherring
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