Rain that extinguished fires in Alberta is now causing flooding and rapid evacuations
EDMONTON — Just days after thousands of residents of Alberta’s Yellowhead County were allowed to return home after their second evacuation in just a few weeks due to wildfires, it is now the flooding that is forcing some residents of the county to flee.
An evacuation order was issued late Monday afternoon for residents of Lower Robb, about 150 miles west of Edmonton, due to heavy rainfall, though other parts of Robb are not affected by the order.
Earlier in the afternoon, the county declared a local state of emergency due to overland flooding, and Chief Administrative Officer Luc Mercier told an online video update that numerous roads in the county are under water.
He warned people not to drive on water-covered roads because they could wash away.
Mercier said the community of Cadomin, meanwhile, is facing a power outage as snow has toppled transmission lines and electricity could be out for several days.
Yellowhead County Mayor Wade Williams said in a video update that he couldn’t believe what was happening, and that words failed him.
“Honestly, I can’t believe we’re standing here,” Williams said. “This is the situation we are in and we have to try to deal with it.”
Last week’s rain had been welcome as it allowed firefighters to make headway in battling massive wildfires that forced more than 8,000 residents of Edson and Yellowhead County to evacuate.
But Edson Mayor Kevin Zahara and the city’s CAO said in their own online video update Monday that they had received more than 85 millimeters of rain in a very short period of time and that some roads in the community have been closed and infrastructure is under construction. charge.
They said their update was originally planned to talk about post-fire returns and the status of the fires, but they said flooding was now the priority and the city had declared a state of emergency to deal with it.
“We asked for rain and boy did we get it – and way too much,” said Zahara, moved with emotion as he noted how difficult the past few weeks have been.
“Today it’s hard to watch, to see people struggling with their homes, but I’m incredibly proud of our staff here in the City of Edson and all of our emergency responders,” Zahara added.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 19, 2023.
