Mandatory Flooding Evacuation In Calgary

June 20, 2013

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High River Flooding — High River Alberta - Serious flooding

Canmore Flooding — Canmore is flooding seriously. The former coal mining town on the edge of Banff National Park is flooded.

CALGARY – There is a mandatory evacuation underway in parts of Calgary. The Elbow River in the city is expected to crest well above flood levels seen as recently as 2005. Flooding west of Calgary in the town of Canmore has already caused damage.

State of Emergency Declared in Calgary

The Mayor of Calgary, Naheed Nenshi has stated that the Emergency Services and Emergency planning is the best in the world.

High River, south of Calgary is also under an evacuation order. There is already flooding in Bragg Creek west of Calgary.

The province has experienced massive rainfall in recent days.

Highways in many parts of Southern Alberta are closed. In the Kananaskis Valley, a mudslide near the Fortress Mountain Junction has closed Highway 40. The Trans-Canada Highway

Alberta Premier Alison Redford states, ““I’ve been following today’s events with great concern, and my heart goes out to the many Albertans who have been evacuated due to the floods that are affecting much of Southern and Central Alberta today. I strongly encourage everyone to follow the public safety orders of their municipalities. If you are being ordered to evacuate, please do so for your own safety.

“My deepest thanks to all the volunteers, and municipal and provincial officials who have been coordinating emergency operations efforts, both on the ground and in the emergency operations centre. I know the Alberta Emergency Management Agency is coordinating the government’s response and officials will be working around the clock to manage the situation and keep Albertans safe.

“I plan to visit the affected areas as soon as possible on Friday to see the situation first hand and to thank those who have been working so hard at keeping every one safe.”

Flooding is happening across Southern Alberta. High River Alberta is under water as well.

High River Alberta Flooding — High River Alberta is about 80km south of Calgary

Due to a predicted flood on the Elbow River, The City of Calgary is evacuating residents in low-lying areas. The following communities and specific areas will be evacuated:

Misson, Elbow Park, Stanley Park, Roxboro, Rideau and Discovery Ridge.

Preparations for Evacuation
Police Service, Calgary Fire Department, Animal & Bylaw Services, Calgary Search and Rescue, Canada Task Force 2 and The City’s Corporate Security team have started going door to door in those communities to notify residents of the evacuation.

Once evacuated, residents will not be allowed access to those communities as this is a mandatory evacuation.

What you should do
Call your family together to decide what you will take. Pack enough clothes, prescription medicine, personal identification and other essential items to last at least one week.

Arrange for you, your family and your pets to stay with friends or relatives. Evacuees who cannot arrange for alternate accommodation will be provided with food, shelter, bedding and other essential services at one of these reception centres:

Southland Leisure Centre, 200 Southland Drive SW or
Acadia Recreation Complex a, 240 90 Ave SE.

People can take their pets to the Animal Service Centre, 2201 Portland St. S.E. or The Calgary Humane Society, 4455 110 Ave. S.E., if they cannot arrange accommodation for them.

Evacuation Procedures

To evacuate residents, the Calgary Police Service will:

• establish perimeters around the evacuation areas
• drive through the areas and announce the evacuation on a public address system
• go door to door to inform residents about the evacuation
• check each building to ensure no one remains in the evacuation areas
• seal off and patrol the areas to prevent unauthorized entry
• Arrange for electricity and gas to be turned off in the evacuated areas.

Calgary Transit and Access Calgary are on standby to evacuate those residents who cannot leave on their own. Please identify yourselves to the emergency responders going door to door.

Recommended Measures

The City of Calgary advises residents in the affected areas to minimize the potential flood damage by taking the following measures:
• Install the cap in the basement sewer floor drain if you don’t have a mechanical back flow prevention device in place.
• Move valuables such as photographs and personal and legal documents, from the basement or a lower floor to an upper floor.
• Remove newspapers from basements because wet newspaper can stain carpets with ink
• Listen to local radio and television stations for further updates.
• Visit The City of Calgary’s website for information, at www.calgary.ca.

Sandbags

The City of Calgary has a reserve of sandbags for use in priority areas as identified by The City’s Emergency Management Plan. City crews are actively filling and deploying these bags in areas where the need is greatest. Given limited resources, these bags will only be available for use by City crews, and are not being made available to the public. Unfortunately, it is not possible for The City of Calgary to provide sandbags to thousands of homes. We thank you for your understanding during this emergency.

Emergency Response

The City is asking all citizens to help the authorities who are responding to this emergency by observing these restrictions:

• Do not drive to the affected areas unless you are involved in the emergency response. Extra traffic will prevent the authorities from responding quickly.
• Do not use the phone unless you are requesting help or reporting an important event.
• Unnecessary phone calls could overload the telephone system and limit the authorities’ ability to communicate.

Updates are available on the City of Calgary website, www.calgary.ca and by calling 3-1-1.