Calgary ends state of local emergency as flood risk recedes in Alberta

A weather system the City of Calgary was watching will miss the city, prompting officials to life the state of local emergency.

The risk of flooding in Calgary due to already high rivers and high rainfall has passed, leading the city to lift its state of local emergency earlier than expected.

“The weather system that we were concerned about is expected to stay well south of us. So for that reason, we have lifted the state of local emergency,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said on Friday.

But the risks from those rivers remain, leading city officials to remind citizens to stay away from the Bow and Elbow rivers. The city’s boating advisory – prohibiting boats on the waterways – remains in place.

City officials said the rivers’ peaks passed on Wednesday after multiple days of heavy rain over the weekend.

A berm put in place across Memorial Drive to protect the Sunnyside community will be coming down in the next couple of days, with Gondek saying it should be cleared from that east-west roadway by Monday morning.

Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) Chief Sue Henry said the berm protected tens of millions of dollars worth of private and public property.

Officials confirmed it cost $115,000 to build, a partial disassembly cost $17,000 and the full cost to tear it down will be determined after the work is done.

She added the city weighed the effects of halting 24,000 cars per day along the riverfront drive with protecting those properties.