During the recent flooding the Red Deer River was raging but damage to Red Deer County is relatively light except for the Garrington Bridge west of Bowden.
Some people were cut off from their properties, some buildings were flooded, as were some county roads.
County manager Curtis Herzberg says assessment is continuing, as are cleanup and repair efforts. Some minor damage is already repaired.
While the river is receding back to normal levels, the Garrington Bridge on Highway 587 west of Bowden was damaged badly enough to be closed.
There appears to be damage to the bridge abutments and some erosion around the bridge.
Access to the area is restricted with manned barricades and it could be as long as two months before it reopens, according to Alberta Transportation.
Twelve people, including nine members of the Red Deer Search and Rescue team, which is closely affiliated with the county, are helping out with home inspections and cleaning up the flood damage in Canmore.
The nine search and rescue volunteers, along with two county firemen and assistant county manager Rick Henderson, will be in Canmore at least two or three days, and possibly longer.
The group went in four vehicles with rescue equipment and structural collapse support materials.
Red Deer county Mayor Jim Wood is very pleased that the county is helping “our neighbours to the south. My heart goes out to them. I'm very proud of the rescue team.”
Herzberg paid tribute to how county staff reacted during the flooding. “We train for emergencies, so our staff is always prepared and it was nice to see that damage from the flooding was less than anticipated. Compared to the flooding in 2005 we were much better off,” said Herzberg.
“We were prepared to set up our emergency command centre, but it wasn't necessary. We train and practise with the RCMP and other agencies; in fact we had a session a week before the flooding. We were prepared, but did not have to declare an emergency, although we kept a close eye on it.”
Meanwhile everything is back to normal at the Dickson Dam on the Red Deer River.
“Inflow and outflow are balanced,” says Renee Hackney from Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resources.
She says it's normal to hold back as much water as possible during flooding, but the gates were drawn down and the dam was releasing 1,200 cubic metres per second on June 23 and June 23.
