State of Local Emergency Update

 

The City of Calgary remains in a state of local emergency due to significant flooding. Safety remains the number one priority for the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) and partner agencies.

 

Approximately 7,300 customers have received power this afternoon making the total number of customers without power about 11,200. Crews are actively working in the communities of Riverdale, Bonnybrook, Erlton and Bowness to restore power.

 

For home owners who need connection and are at home:

-       City Inspectors will go to your basement to ensure the premises is safe to energize. If it is safe then ENMAX will energize along with a block of homes in your area. This may take a bit more time but rest assured that you are on the list.

 

If you are not at home when City Inspectors arrive at your house:

-       Your electricity will not be restored at that time.

-       When you return, call 311 or use the 311 app to request an electrical inspection.

-       If you did have damage, or water in your basement, you will have to get a hold of an electrical contractor first to repair any potential damage. 

 

ENMAX reminds everyone to treat all electrical equipment as energized. Stay away from transformers, downed power lines and all electrical equipment.

 

Many people are using gas and diesel-powered generators to pump water out of basements or for other clean-up. Do not run those generators indoors or near air intake systems.

 

 

Significant progress continues to be made by Roads crews in the downtown core.

-       70 percent of the road network in the flooded area has been restored.

-       Approximately 730 lane kilometres of the downtown core have been swept.

 

MacLeod Trail in both directions will be open into the downtown core all the way to 4 Avenue south as of 5:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. City crews will also open 4 Avenue south, including the flyover, 5 Avenue south and 6 Avenue south.

 

Traffic lights are still not operational in some areas of downtown. Portable stop signs have been set up and motorists in the area should exercise extreme caution.

 

If you do not need to be downtown, The City is still advising that you stay out of the area in order to aid in the recovery.

 

Please stay off city streets if possible. Stay home, work from home or consider alternate forms of travel like Calgary Transit, carpooling, cycling or walking. Portions of downtown are still either inaccessible or access is restricted. In areas where access is available, parking is limited due to flooding in parking garages.

 

The City has established 14 Park and Bike sites in all four quadrants of Calgary. These sites allow people to drive their cars and park for the day, and then walk, bike or carpool into downtown.

-       Each site is within 5-7 km of downtown (a 20-minute bike ride)

-       The goal is to relieve some traffic volume expected as downtown opens.

-       Thank you to SAIT for opening their P1 lot on the south end of campus, and Maryland Shopping Centre for opening their parking site to Park and Bike folks free of charge

-       You can find the Park and Bike Route Map with lot locations and routes between the lots and downtown, on Calgary.ca. Search “Park and Bike”.

-       Signs are in place to identify the lots

 

Motorists are asked not to park on streets in communities where clean-up efforts are underway. Residents are piling debris and regular garbage on their front lawns and Waste & Recycling crews are having difficulty accessing some streets to collect debris. Residents and their guests should use garages and driveways where available.

 

The Calgary Parking Authority is relaxing back alley parking restrictions temporarily to accommodate clean-up crews. Please ensure there is adequate room for emergency vehicles to get through back alleys.

 

With limited CTrain service on Route 201 (Red line), thousands of customers in south Calgary are currently using shuttle bus services to access stations north of Heritage, including the downtown core. To help move more people into the downtown as more Calgarians start returning to work, temporary bus-only lanes will be installed on northbound Macleod Trail from 61 Avenue at to City Hall, and on southbound Macleod Trail from 12 Avenue S to 61 Avenue S. The temporary bus-only lanes are expected to be installed Wed. June, 26, and will be identified with signs

 

We have been able to re-activate two sanitary lift stations and restore sanitary sewer services to Roxboro and Bowness.

 

The City’s sanitary system is dealing with the high ground water that other utilities are dealing with and service may still be interrupted at times.

If anyone experiences sanitary system problems, call 311.

 

The City has established a City customer services counter in each quadrant to help citizens. These locations will offer similar services that are currently available at Customer Service counters on the third floor of the Municipal Building, such as bill payment, property tax payment and help with permit applications. They are at:

 

-       Election and Information Services Office, 1103 55 Ave. N.E. – 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

-       Forest Lawn Community & Neighbourhood Services, 3810 17 Ave. S.E. – 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

-       Georgina Thompson Library, 51 Cornell Rd. N.W. - 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

-       Rose Kohn Arena, 502 Heritage Dr. S.W. – Extended hours 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.