Two rivers in the area of Whitecourt, Alta., about 150 kilometers northwest of Edmonton, are experiencing high water levels and causing overland flooding, prompting evacuation orders for several areas along the rivers.
People living in the areas shown on the following map have been ordered by the Alberta government to leave their homes:
Woodland County officials said in a social media update that residents should not bypass or move barricades, travel through water-covered roads or go to evacuated areas.
In the town of Whitecourt, there is an evacuation advisory in effect for an area along the McLeod River near Highway 43, including Riverside Trailer Park.
People living in that area must prepare to evacuate with one hour of warning.
The most up-to-date evacuation information can be found on the Alberta Emergency Alerts website.
Whitecourt Mayor Tom Pickard said the Athabasca River peaked late Wednesday and the McLeod River peaked at 3 a.m. on Thursday.
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“That’s the good news for the Whitecourt area,” said Pickard.
Town officials said water levels are expected to remain high into Friday.
He said all emergency responders are in twice-daily emergency management meetings so all departments can coordinate.
“We have extra RCMP in town when there’s this kind of incident, the fire department is on alert,” he said.
Even though the rivers have peaked, a flood warning is still in effect for the two rivers, he said.
“We continue to remain on alert until we can see those levels really start to recede,” said Pickard. “They’re still quite high, they’re still quite dangerous.”
Whitecourt resident Krysten Hansen said seeing the water this high is “crazy.”
“We were just kayaking, tubing, a week and a half ago maybe, and now it’s this,” said Hansen, gesturing to the high, muddy water.
Hansen said she watched a boulder in the river go from being dry to covered in water to two feet underwater in just an hour.
“It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s like this, to be honest.”
She said she has all of her essentials ready to go if she needs to evacuate and may take the family holiday trailer.
“We’re ready to go when we need to.”
Ernie Horwath said he was on his way home from work when he got an alert on his phone telling him to evacuate immediately.
With the water rising closer to his home, he said he’s worried about what things will look like when he returns.
“I got most of my stuff out last night but who knows what it’s going to be,” said Horwath.
He said he started driving down a flooded road to get home, but the water got too deep to make it across.
“I figured better not chance it,” he said. “What do you do, right?”
Mary Adams has property that backs onto the river. She said on Wednesday morning the rising water, carrying along a tree, tore down a fence she had installed.
“I sure was not expecting that at all, not at all,” said Adams.
She said she is waiting to hear about evacuation orders from the local officials.
“I’m taking it half an hour to an hour at a time, see what happens,” she said. “It’s been a very extreme high roller-coaster, having so many fires close to us, and then going to the extreme of having that behind me,” said Adams, pointing to the river rushing behind her.
Horwath said he had been helping fight nearby wildfires in the past months, and now has to deal with rising water levels.
“It’s like, which way do I turn now? It’s just frustrating, I don’t know what’s going to happen next,” he said.
“You got fires, then it rains, then it snows and then it floods. Welcome to Alberta.”
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