‘The worst is behind us,’ mayor of Slave Lake says of flooding
Evacuation order issued as rising waters threaten town and shut down roads
Few people were concerned when the rain began in the Slave Lake area Sunday morning.
But then it intensified, and then came the wind.
Come Monday afternoon, “things started getting a little sketchy,” town Mayor Tyler Warman said.
In a 48-hour period close to 106 mm of rain fell and rivers rose.
At 2 a.m. Tuesday, residents in the Eating Creek and Marten Beach area were told to leave their properties within 30 minutes before egress roads in the area became undrivable because of deteriorating conditions.
It was a voluntary evacuation order, but an evacuation nonetheless.
An Alberta Emergency Alert said the level of the Marten River was rising “due to heavy rainfall and log jams and is causing localized flooding ” and residents were being advised to seek accommodations outside the flood area or at a local hotel.
Overland flooding shut Highway 2 and Mooney Creek Bridge was closed for the better part of Tuesday. Sawridge Road was also closed due to high water levels.
By 10 a.m., a power outage stretched across the entire town, shutting the local school and keeping many people at home.
“Atco is working as hard as they can and they are doing a wonderful job,” Warman said Tuesday.
“Our staff has worked for 24 hours straight … people are tired and they are not going to go home to take the day off so they’ll take a nap and get back at it … but realistically the worst is behind us.”
Officials were keeping an eye on a number of tributaries because flood waters are causing creek and riverbanks to collapse, adding flotsam to the waterways that is collecting around bridges and jamming things up.
Heavy equipment has been moved to clear the debris as it becomes a problem, he said.
“This is 100 per cent caused by a massive amount of rain in a short period of time,” he said.
As for the next steps, Warman is pleading with people to stay out of flooded areas.
“If you don’t need to travel, stay home,” he said.
“It’s a day to stay inside and let (our) people do their thing.
“We’ll worry about clean up when we get time to do it. “
This is 100 per cent caused by a massive amount of rain in a short period of time.