Dozens of Red Deer County roads have been hit by the worst flooding in years.
An estimated 20 to 30 roads have been temporarily blocked off in all areas of the county as overland flooding fed by snowmelt-swollen Medicine and Little Red Deer Rivers.
County crews have been working around the clock responding to flooding reports and ensuring county residents are safe, said Dave Brand, county community and protective services director.
The county remains in close contact with the province’s river forecast centre and the county is getting hourly updates on river levels, Brand said late Tuesday morning.
“We have staff dedicated to both the Medicine River and the Little Red Deer River,” said Brand.
“We’re taking stream gauges and going the old-school manual method.”
Isolated pockets of flooding have been reported from all four corners of the county.
Mayor Jim Wood praised the response of the town’s staff as reports of flooding piled up.
“Last night, they had their emergency centre operating. They had already outlined a place for the community to go should the flooding get worse, the Cottonwood-Gordon Hall.
“So we’re prepared. Fortunately, it didn’t get any worse.”
Wood said in some cases frozen culverts may have blocked drainage channels causing snowmelt to back up. In other places, there’s just so much water culverts can handle the flow.
“This is abnormal,” he said of the flooding. “(Staff) have been working extremely hard. They are trying to get roads open as quick as they can and those roads are changing daily.
“I’m confident as quick as possible everything will be back to normal.”
Flooding has receded at Silver Lagoon subdivision and Red Lodge Estates, which are located several kilometres south of Gleniffer Lake on the Little Red Deer River. Homeowners had been given a voluntary evacuation notice on Monday. It was rescinded on Tuesday afternoon.
A boil water advisory remained in effect in those developments as of Tuesday.
Residents near Hwy 587 and the Little Red Deer River were urged to go to higher ground on Monday afternoon as a huge ice jam caused flooding. The ice jam moved on and Hwy 587 was reopened Tuesday morning.
Residents have been asked to phone the county at 403-350-2150 to report flooding or blocked culverts. Motorists should not drive around or move barricades or attempt to drive through what may appear to be only a few centimetres of water.
Sandbags are available at the Spruce View Fire Hall and the Markerville Community Hall.
Residents can get the latest information on road closures through the county’s interactive map.
Red Deer County is posting updates through its Twitter account @RedDeerCounty and on Facebook.
pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
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