UPDATE: After pumping water through the night, the town says most of its has receded.
“Due to the success of the overnight pumping we did not have to breach the dike, as we had originally anticipated. We still have one pump working – with others on standby – near Riverfront Park as we continue clean-up of debris on roads downtown.”
There are still temporary dams and road blocks in place, but it is now possible to cross downtown from the Heart River to the roundabout via 101 Street. People are still asked to avoid downtown.
A state of local emergency has been declared in the Town of Peace River due to flooding in its downtown. The town says Pat’s Creek Culvert started to overflow near the Centennial parking lot around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
“We suspect an ice jam in the culvert. The jam led to overflowing which has caused flooding near the 100 Avenue and 100 Street area of downtown Peace River.”
Contractors have been called in to help, and tiger dams and earth berms to channel the water through the street towards Riverfront Park. Around 12:20 a.m. Sunday, Public Works started preparations to breach the dike near the washrooms in Riverfront Park to help with water pumping.
The public is asked to avoid the downtown area. Declaring a State of Local Emergency gives a municipality a wide range of powers within their borders, like to put an emergency plan into effect and distribute essential supplies.