Flood risk rises in southwestern Alberta

A state of emergency has been declared in the towns of Okotoks and High River, and Calgary began sandbagging the banks of the Elbow River as rain soaked southwestern Alberta for a fifth straight day.

Late Saturday, Alberta Environment issued a flood warning for the Elbow River upstream of the Glenmore Dam and extending to Bragg Creek. A warning was also in effect for Sheep River, adjacent to the towns of Black Diamond and Turner Valley.

But the government downgraded the flood warnings for the streams in southwestern Alberta to a flood watch on Sunday afternoon.

In Calgary, city crews deployed 2,000 sandbags along Riverdale Avenue and Rideau Road on Saturday night.

The city also advised people living along the Elbow River in the communities of Elbow Park, Riverdale, Stanley Park, Glencoe, Rideau Park, Roxboro, Mission, and Discovery Ridge that flooding is possible, and to take precautions including moving upstairs any valuable items from basements.

As much as 55 millimetres of rain have fallen on Calgary and surrounding areas since Wednesday. Alberta Environment is expecting 20 to 50 millimetres more by late Monday.

"All the sandbagging that has been required has been dealt with," said Paul Fesko, Calgary's manager of strategic services for water resources. "What we have to do right now is continue to monitor the upstream situation and the weather and see if that causes any change in our operational plans."

Officials in High River said the flow in the Highwood River has subsided a bit since Saturday night, but the state of emergency will remain in place as the river crested Sunday morning.

"We did evacuate one area called Wallaceville but I think most of the homeowners chose to stay because it wasn't super bad, but we did have a fair depth of water into some of the properties so we did do a mandatory evacuation," Dan Campbell, public information officer for High River emergency operations, said on Sunday.