Tuesday, Jason Nixon, Minister of Environment and Parks, and Lisa Jackson, executive director, Environmental Emergency Management Branch, Alberta Environment and Parks gave an update on potential flood conditions in central and southern Alberta. 

Minister Nixon started out by mentioning the communities that have declared a state of emergency so far. 

“Yesterday (Monday), the City of Calgary declared a state of local emergency and today the Municipal District of Bighorn issued a local state of emergency so that they can respond to possible flooding during the significant rainfall event in their communities. We support local municipalities and declaring a state of local emergency and we are standing by supporting Alberta communities that are facing potential flooding impacts.” 

Nixon mentioned Albertans who live in the affected areas should look for updates from their local government regarding any potential evacuations and closures. 

“Please follow directions and if there is a need to evacuate some areas, cooperate with your local officials who are working to ensure everyone's safety.” 

According to Nixon he recommends downloading the Alberta rivers app for the latest information on river conditions as well as the Alberta emergency alert app. 

“Municipalities can request flood mitigation equipment from provincial stockpiles through our provincial operations center. The Government is ready and as part of budget 2022, we have a $1 billion contingency for municipal disasters and emergency assistance.” 

Nixon brought up the 2013 flood and talked about how they are more prepared now than back then. 

“I want to reiterate that our cities and towns particularly those impacted in 2013 have much better on-the-ground flood protection in place than was the case nine years ago. Alberta's flood maps continue to be important over the next couple of days as local emergency managers were to keep Albertans safe and prevent damage to our communities.” 

Lisa Jackson, executive director, Environmental Emergency Management Branch, Alberta Environment and Parks talked about when the heavy rainfall will slow down. 

“We continue to see and expect that heavy rainfall moving into Wednesday when we expect it to taper off and turn more into showers.” 

Jackson went on to talk about how they suspect the dry conditions that we have been experiencing in southern Alberta over the last several weeks have played a role in absorbing some of the impacts of the rainfall. 

The current advisories in our area are as follows: 

  • Flood watch downgraded to a high streamflow advisory – Bow River at Banff, Canmore and Exshaw  

  • Flood watch downgraded to a high streamflow advisory – tributaries to the Bow River upstream of Calgary  

  • Flood watch downgraded to a high streamflow advisory – Exshaw to the Highwood River confluence including the City of Calgary  

  • Flood watch downgraded to a high streamflow advisory – Elbow River upstream of the Glenmore Reservoir  

  • Flood watch downgraded to a high streamflow advisory – Highwood River from the Town of High River to the Bow River Confluence   

  • Flood watch downgraded to a high streamflow advisory – Fish Creek