By Geoff Smith (@GeoffSmithLNN on Twitter)

Roads, farmland, homes feeling effects of MD of Taber flood

Apr 26, 2018 | 11:50 AM

TABER – The crest has passed, but the flood fight isn’t over yet in the Municipal District of Taber.

The district is the last in the Lethbridge area to remain under a State of Local Emergency, and chief administrative officer Derrick Krizsan doesn’t expect it to be lifted in the immediate future. The Enchant area is still seeing overland flows, and there are trapped floodwaters in some farmland.

“There are going to be many acres of farmland that are not going to be in production this year… the effects are going to be felt for this growing season and into the next.”

 

– Derrick Krizsan

“We’ve begun mitigation efforts by examining what the damages were and we plan to come back to council next week with a description of the 725-odd sites that we’ve identified, damage to municipal infrastructure, costs and timelines for repair,” Krizsan said Thursday, April 26 in an interview.

He expects the damage tally to reach millions of dollars, including municipal infrastructure and that of the Taber, St. Mary River, and Bow River Irrigation Districts. Nearly 100 roads remain closed.

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“It ranges from water still covering the road to significant damage and washed out areas that may be covered by water but may appear to be shallow, but there in some cases are considerable damage under some of these sections,” Krizsan explained. “We’re doing regular maintenance on these to make sure that the road closure is still needed. But work has begun to repair what damage we can get to with our road graders and gravelling crews, and we are starting to work our way through the recovery process.”

The M.D. will apply for aid from the provincial Disaster Recovery Program. Krizsan said elected officials are working with area MLAs to make the government aware of the extent of the problem.

The State of Local Emergency will continue while pumping is underway, he added. The M.D. is assisting the Village of Barnwell at a storm water pond in the village that drains through M.D. land.

Throughout the flood, the M.D. office has also been gathering information on affected residential properties, with the help of Samaritan’s Purse. Krizsan hopes provincial funding will include help for homeowners with uninsurable losses.

Even after the flood is over and the roads are fixed, the region will be feeling the effects of the spring of 2018 possibly even beyond this year.

“There are going to be many acres of farmland that are not going to be in production this year, and this is certainly going to impact our agriculture industry here in the municipality,” Krizsan said. “Certainly, the effects are going to be felt for this growing season and into the next.”

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