UPDATE AT 4:15 P.M. MT:
A break in the weather and dropping water levels have allowed Rocky View County to lift all mandatory and voluntary evacuations for Bragg Creek. Access to West Bragg Creek has been restored.
Residents may return home, but are advised to use caution near waterways or flooded areas. If the power is still off, contact FortisAlberta at 403-310-9473.
For information, volunteer coordination and help from work crews, go to the Bragg Creek Response Centre on Whyte Ave.
The water treatment facility in Bragg Creek was not damaged, and Rocky View County is providing clean drinking water through a water tank at the community centre. Residents should bring water jugs to fill.
CALGARY- About 160 Bragg Creek residents remained in their homes on Friday evening, despite evacuation orders. Mandatory evacuees on the east side are being asked to stay out of the hamlet, even as water recedes. MD of Rockyview officials have been struggling to keep people from venturing back to their homes and businesses.
Creekers Market Bistro owner John Czarnojan did, and found a huge mess.
“Business survived. Right now it’s just under two feet of water, so it’s just a good cleanup. That’s all we have to do,” he says.
But emergency workers are begging everyone to be patient.
“It’s still a very dangerous situation. We can’t have people wandering around in there,” says George Low, the Dep. Fire Chief for Redwood Meadows. “If they need emergency assistance, we’re here to provide that.”
On Friday, RCMP officers went to check on 91 residents of West Bragg Creek who chose not to voluntarily evacuate.
“Most of those folks aren’t in any real danger, they’re dry, there’s electricity, they’ve got food. We’d recommend those people just kind of hunker down and wait it out,” says Low.
Residents of Redwood Meadows were ordered to evacuate early Friday morning, because of fears a berm on the Elbow River would collapse.
Crews are working around the clock fighting flooding all over the MD of Rocky View. The Reeve tells Global News pumping are now running in Conrich, in the Cochrane Lakes area, and at Glenmore Trail and 84 Street SE. Meantime, part of Springbank Rd. is washed out, west of the Springbank Park for All Seasons rec centre.
“The volumes have changed a lot, they’ve come down a lot but it’s not total relief for everything,” says Rolly Ashdown, Rocky View Reeve.
On a positive note, officials have reopened one lane on Highway 22 North of Highway 8.
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