Canmore Flooding

Torrential rains and widespread flooding throughout southern Alberta on Thursday washed out roads and bridges, sent residents scurrying for safety, and delivered up surreal scenes of cars, couches and refrigerators just floating away.

Officials with the City of Calgary said as many as 100,000 people could be forced from their homes due to heavy flooding, an evacuation that would take place in stages over the next few days.

The Bow River Basin was battered late Wednesday and into Thursday with up to 100 mm of rain, bringing river levels to the breaking point. Parts of Calgary along the Bow and Elbow rivers remained in the crosshairs with residents in six low-lying areas out of their homes.

There were flashpoints of chaos from Banff and Canmore and Crowsnest Pass in the Rockies, to Calgary and beyond in the north and south to Lethbridge.

The flooding was particularly destructive in communities just south of Calgary such as High River, Turner Valley and Black Diamond, where the Highwood River swept away two people.

The province reported that 12 communities were under states of emergency.

Environment Canada issued a rainfall warning for the affected areas, estimating as much as 100 millimetres more rain could fall in the next two days.

The Alberta Energy Regulator reported flooding may have caused a sour gas leak near Turner Valley. The flow of the toxic gas was turned off, but late Thursday a small amount was still seeping into floodwaters submerging the line. The Alberta Energy Regulator said public safety was not threatened.

In the mountain parks, mudslides forced the closure of the Trans-Canada Highway, isolating Banff and Canmore. Campers at Two Jack Lakeside campground were moved to higher ground.

Highways north and south of Banff were also shut down.

In Canmore, some homeowners saw the raging Cougar Creek eat away half their backyards, leaving behind crumbling wooden stairwells and twisted fences jutting out over torrents of water. Power and gas were out in some parts of town.

Source: nationalpost

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