Overland flooding across Mountain View and Red Deer counties had forced the closure of numerous roads as of press time Friday.
In MVC flooding included of roads southeast of Sundre, one directly east of Didsbury, one directly east of Carstairs, in the Eagle Hill area and elsewhere.
MVC roads impacted included Rge. Rd. 273 between Twp. Rd. 302 and Twp. Rd. 304, Twp. Rd. 320 (Bergen Road) between Highway 766 and Rge. Rd. 33 (near the bridge overlooking the Dogpound Creek), Rge. Rd. 281 between Twp. Rd. 314 and Twp. Rd. 320, Rge. Rd. 40 from Twp. 320 and 322, Twp. Rd. 312A between Hwy 2A and Rge. Rd. 15.
In Red Deer County, flooding near the Little Red Deer River also closed several roads. There were no reports of injuries in either county.
People were being advised to stay away from low-lying areas.
Officials say the overland flooding was a result of the larger than normal Prairie snowpack this year.
“There's lots of other roads around the county that have water infiltration, have water on the roads, or they're really soft and lots of water in the ditches and that sort of stuff because of the snowmelt,” said Andrew Wild, communications coordinator with MVC.
“It's a lot of snowpack and so it's melting off and creating issues for our road infrastructure and filling small creeks and streams. It overwhelms certain culverts because of their size.”
The flooding started early last week and county officials closed two roads on Wednesday and established local advisories. They closed the third road on Thursday and sent an advisory out through the Alberta Emergency Alert for people to stay away from low-lying areas.
“We're asking people just to be careful on the roads, obey the signs,” Wild told the Gazette on Thursday.
“I don't know whether it's going to get better or worse. I guess it depends on temperatures, added precipitation – it's kind of a wait and see.”
He is not sure at this point if there will be more flooding later on this spring.
“There is a lot of snow on the Prairies and in the mountains, but we haven't been told anything to expect – anything other than to be alert and be ready for who knows what,” he said.
Officials have been keeping the public informed through social media and the county's website.
“It happens every year. We just have a lot more snow than what we would consider a normal snow year,” he said.
“As temperatures warm, all that snow on the Prairies and on people's properties and stuff, it has to go somewhere.”
