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Sundre declares state of emergency

More than 50 homes and an RV park are being evacuated in Sundre as the town declares a state of emergency due to fast-rising river levels.
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More than 50 homes and an RV park are being evacuated in Sundre as the town declares a state of emergency due to fast-rising river levels.

Dykes that were created in the 1970s and 1980s to safeguard the community are expected to be breached in the next 24 to 32 hours, if rainfall continues to melt snow at the headwaters of the Red Deer River.

“Within the next 24 hours, we could be in serious danger,” said Mayor Annette Clews, who was working to ensure that the town’s Emergency Response Plan was being followed.

Police and emergency crews are going door-to-door this afternoon asking residents of the low-lying east side of the town to leave their homes because of the potential for flooding. Clews said the occupants of some 50 homes are being asked to stay with relatives or relocate to a temporary shelter set up at Olds College.

The Riverside RV Park is also under mandatory evacuation. Clews said about four of five of the RV lots hold permanent homes. She didn’t know how many recreational vehicles were in the temporary lots.

Municipal staff and volunteers of the town of 2,700 residents were busy sandbagging to shore up Sundre’s infrastructure.

Clews said the river has not yet overflowed its banks but is running very high.

If the heavy rain continues, she said the town will be jeopardized. “A lot of areas are getting saturated, but the river itself is the danger ... we would like people to stay away from the river.”

The town is closely monitoring the river levels upstream of Sundre.

More information is available from Alberta Environment’s website. Updates are also being provided at www.sundre.com.

More to come

More information at http://www.sundre.com/