An ice jam east of Red Deer caused some major damage at a private RV park. The current was so strong that it not only toppled trailers; it dragged three into the Red Deer River.
“It just let lose in one bang, pushed up everywhere, wasn’t stopping for anything,” area resident Randy Barclay said.
“There was ice everywhere to be seen out here…. To me it looked like a war zone,” RV owner Cliff Upton said.
The Rivercreek RV Park just off Highway 21 was set to open next month, but Mother Nature had other plans.
“The river had broke, there was a lot of ice built up all over the place.
“It came right through the park and probably flooded about three or four-feet high,” Rivercreek RV Park Manager Andre Mercier explained.
The rushing water and ice from the Red Deer River was so great that it toppled several trailers and ripped out decks.
There was even some trailers, from what we understand, there are three trailers that are completely missing out of here, they’ve floated away somewhere,” Mercier said.
The cleanup now seems impossible for Mercier and his wife, who are on their seventh year of taking care of the park.
“It’s really devastating and it’s very emotional for us to have to handle this but it’s one of the things Mother Nature has handed down to us,” Mercier added.
The Merciers aren’t the only ones trying to figure this out.
“There’s probably two feet of water that ended up inside our trailer,” Upton said.
Instead of looking forward to camping along the river, Upton is now hoping to recoup his loses.
“It’s kind of disheartening but it’s one of those things that happens and you kind of drudge forward and try and do the best you can and hopefully the insurance will look after us,” Upton said.
The campground was hit by water from an ice jam roughly two years ago, but the damage was no where near as severe as this. No one was injured and the estimated cost of all the damage is not known as this time.
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