Flood waters in Bragg Creek have forced more than 1,150 people from their homes, after a mandatory evacuation order was called early Friday morning.
“It’s absolute devastation. We’ve never had water here,” business owner Marina Cooke, whose restaurant was flooded, told Global News.
“Businesses, homes, everything is just flooded and gone.”
The small hamlet, just west of Calgary, saw the Elbow River rise nearly four meters Thursday. As of Friday morning it has yet to crest and the worst may be yet to come.
"The protective dike that surrounds the community is being threatened and there's no longer anything we can do," fire chief Rob Evans told CBC News.
"They had been trying to shore it up with big boulders and the river's just moving so quickly that it's pushing them along the river as quickly as they were dropping them in."
Early this morning, fire officials declared a mandatory evacuation for the entire community of Bragg Creek. According to Evans, the entire community has left.
Residents are urged to make their way to the county’s emergency evacuation centre at Springbank Park for All Seasons, at 32224A Springbank Road. Evacuees can also head to the Banded Peak School located on Highway 22 south and from there they will be transported to the evacuation centre.
A stunning and scary video posted to YouTube Thursday, shows a home being swept down the Elbow River in Bragg Creek, as onlookers express shock.
Warning: NSFW Language
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