IRVINE — A southern Alberta county was under an evacuation alert Thursday due to rapidly rising water in a nearby creek.
Dennis Mann, chief of emergency services for Cypress County, said that Ross Creek at Irvine had gone up about 25 centimetres in the last 24 hours.
“It’s starting to spill its banks at Mavista Acres in Irvine,” he said. “Now a little bit further south, where the bridge was washed out last year, it’s still within its banks ... so we’re kind of thinking this is probably just snow melt, not from Cypress Hills yet.”
County officials were asking residents to keep an eye on water levels and to be prepared to leave their homes.
“We don’t know how quickly things will change. Just be prepared to evacuate,” Mann said.
He added it wasn’t safe to do any sandbagging because it wasn’t clear what was going to happen.
“We’re not sure what the creek level is going to do.”
Mann said there was nothing that could be done other than to monitor the situation closely.