Flooding shuts down valley trails
About 200 km could be closed for weeks
“How can you be nervous when you know the city’s got the area protected?” HOMEOWNER WALLY GLOECKLER
Close to 200 kilometres of river valley trails could be closed for weeks, if not months, because of flooding, a city spokesman says.
Darrell Reid, parks leader for river valley trail operations, said Monday that before the trails can reopen the North Saskatchewan River must recede and the trails have to dry. Silt will be removed and tested for contaminants and then the pathways fixed.
The areas most affected are around Fort Edmonton Park, Emily Murphy Park, Capilano, Gold Bar and lower Highlands.
On Sunday afternoon, the North Saskatchewan River peaked at slightly more than nine metres, the highest recorded level since 1986, when the river peaked at more than 11 metres, flooding parts of the Cloverdale and Riverdale neighbourhoods. Typically, the level is around five metres, said Derek Melmoth, director of drainage services for the city.
At noon Monday, the river level dropped below nine metres and continues to slowly decline every hour.
Still, city and emergency service officials are urging people to stay off and away from the river.
Gregg Menard, platoon chief with the Edmonton Fire Department, said the river is dangerous because it is moving rapidly and carrying a lot of debris. The riverbanks remain unstable and some pathways are covered in slippery silt.
Despite repeated warnings, Menard said fire crews responded to three incidents in which people were using an air mattress and a canoe on the water.
Mayor Stephen Mandel said it “boggles” his mind that people would put their lives at risk that way.
“We’ve told people, stay away from the river. It’s flowing very quickly. The debris in the river is the real issue. The big tree limbs are coming through. You could be on some raft and get knocked off. What would inspire someone to do that, I have no idea,” he said.
On Saturday night, Wally Gloeckler came home from a trip to find an already-assembled sandbag wall around his garage in Riverdale. Along with one other property on that stretch of 87th Street, his home was protected in case of a flood. The city installed 1,200 sandbags in Riverdale.
Emergency preparedness has come a long way in 27 years. In 1986, Gloeckler didn’t know who to call or what to do as the water approached his home. That July flood left 25 to 30 centimetres of water in his basement, not from the river, but because of a backed-up sanitary sewer.
Now, with a relief valve in place in his basement and city crews automatically sandbagging the two homes when waters reach eight metres, Gloeckler wasn’t worried.
“When you ask me, ‘Were you nervous?,’ how can you be nervous when you know the city’s got the area protected?”
By the time the river crested Sunday, the water had only spilled over the lip of a stretch of 87th Street, nowhere near the two homes most in danger. In 1986, the water crept up to 88th Street.
The Edmonton Queen riverboat cancelled its trips Saturday and Sunday, but expects to be taking passengers Thursday as scheduled.
The town of Devon is still under a local state of emergency as of Monday night after Voyageur Park, the Riverview Mountain Bike Skills Park, and the river valley trail system flooded. On Saturday night, about 2,000 people were removed from Lion’s Campground.
Road and trail access to the areas are closed until water recedes to a safe level.