State of local emergency declared for Siksika Nation

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

Rapid snow melt is causing overland flooding, forcing Siksika Nation to declare a state of local emergency on April 16.
While 30 homes have already been impacted by the rising waters, efforts are focused on 300 km of the 560 km of roads on Siksika Nation that are deemed impassable due to flooding.
The washout of roads has impeded access to emergency vehicles and school buses. The Siksika Nation chief and council have identified risk to people, property and commercial and industrial structures, and have mandated specific departments to execute a seven-day emergency response plan to protect structures. Residents are currently not being evacuated.
“I think the misconception is that it’s like the 2013 floods and it’s not at that extent,” said Kelsey Solway, communication representative for the Siksika Emergency Management Team.
“People aren’t being forced out of their homes. Right now we’re dealing with the road conditions and if conditions deteriorate we’ll see flooding in basements and septic backups, but this is what the situation is right now. We’ve stressed that this is overland flooding, so the river has not risen, there is no changes in that. What we’re dealing with is the snowfall that we’ve been seeing. It’s melting rapidly and it’s creating havoc out there.”
According to Environment Canada, overland flooding has also prompted Lethbridge County to declare a state of local emergency on Monday, and regions such as Vulcan County, and the Municipal Districts of Taber and Willow Creek have issued overland flood alerts.
On average, precipitation – snow that has been melted into liquid form and then measured – for the winter season from December to February measured 29 mm at the Calgary airport. The 2017-18 winter season for those months measured 60.5 mm – the highest recorded amount since 1972.
“It’s significant snowfall that fell along the foothills and into the area of the First Nation over the winter time. Now we’re seeing the consequence of that as we slowly warm up and some flooding is occurring in some of those communities which is why they have that alert on for the First Nation,” said Brian Proctor, Environment Canada meteorologist, on Tuesday.
“It’s going to be more problematic moving forward, especially with the additional snowfall that many communities saw in the last (week). We’re probably going to see more of that. Typically we see about four days of snowfall in the month of April for the Calgary area. It’s definitely given us more for that this year and it’ll probably continue for the next little while before it finally swings us into warmer conditions.”
Environment Canada projects that the April, May and June season is showing below normal temperatures for the Canadian Prairies. While Proctor added that it’s likely the area will experience a slow beginning to spring with normal conditions by the time the end of May occurs, he also stated that with significant snowpack in the Canadian Rockies that still has to travel downwards in June and July, the potential for flooding will continue.
Residents of Siksika Nation are being asked to check the Siksika Media page on Facebook, and the Siksika Emergency Management Team is set up at the Siksika Business Centre. Those with questions or concerns can also call 403-901-7195. Siksika Nation will remain in a state of local emergency until April 23 at 12:45 p.m.