‘A real rodeo’: Fires, rain and snow hit Yellowhead County in west central Alberta

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/06/2023 (846 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON – The mayor of Yellowhead County in west central Alberta says it’s been a wild few weeks in the area as residents deal with wildfires, rain and snow.

Wade Williams said in an online video Tuesday that people had been praying for rain to douse the fires but now want the water to stop in the county about 250 kilometres west of Edmonton.

“It has quit raining and there (are) little bits of sunshine … so hopefully the water levels won’t continue to rise much more than they have,” Williams said.

“It’s been a real rodeo here from the fires to the rain and then to the snow up there that took out a power line to one of the hamlets, Cadomin, on the west end.”

The small community suffered a power outage this week when snow knocked down transmission lines. Officials said the electricity could be out there for several days.

Rain was welcomed earlier, because it allowed firefighters to make progress on their battle against massive wildfires that forced more than 8,000 residents from their homes in Edson and Yellowhead County.

On Tuesday, Williams reminded people that the fires are not out.

“Just a couple of nights ago, we had a significant amount of rain and two of them fires flared up at night when the wind came up,” he said.

Residents who were forced to flee due to the fires returned to their homes last week only to be asked to either leave again or shelter-in-place due to flooding.

Chief administrative officer Luc Mercier said residents in the southwest corner of Peer were asked to stay put after a bridge was damaged by high water.

The evacuation order for residents in Lower Robb, he added, was also still in effect.

Mercier said water levels on the McLeod and Athabasca rivers were expected to peak Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Parks Canada said in a statement that Jasper National Park also had more than 100 millimetres of rain and 55 centimetres of snow in some locations, which closed some roads.

“Parks Canada is working on assessing the safety of roads, including the risk of avalanches or mudslides,” the statement said. “We recognize this situation may cause delays and impact visitor travel plans.”

It added that parks staff helped about 60 people — including hikers on the Skyline trail, paddlers on Maligne Lake and two tour buses full of passengers from Maligne Road — and continued to respond to stranded visitors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2023.