County of Lac La Biche under local state of emergency, evacuation order could affect 30-100 residents

The County of Lac La Biche has declared a local state of emergency and the area between Highway 55, Mission Road, Nashim Drive and immediately west of 105 Street is under a mandatory evacuation order in Lac La Biche on Sunday night.

It is estimated that between 30-100 residents will be affected and they must go to the Devon Room at the Bold Centre to register.

“If you are in the affected area, leave the area immediately. Go to the Devon Room at the Bold Centre to register and you will be placed in a hotel room. Please bring pets and essential supplies for the next 48 hours with you. Please uses the room’s side door at the back of the building, not the main doors,” said the County of Lac La Biche on their Facebook page.

Mayor Omer Moghrabi said the County is just trying to keep everyone safe.

“No need to panic, we are expecting the rain to drop off here in the next 24 hours and we will get right back at it. We just want to make sure people are keeping themselves safe and take their valuables out of the basements,” said Moghrabi.

“To deal with the water we’ve got 10 major pumps pumping off of highway 55 the bypass – we have another major 12 inch pipe coming in from Fort McMurray hopefully tonight – so we will keep pumping that water into the wetland that’s just by the bypass – so it depends how much water will be in there now.

“Our drinking water is fine, but it’s the waste water that goes in because of all the moisture and infiltration that might back up into the homes –so that’s the big concern. Or even seeping through the basement so we’ve got to use sump pumps,” he said.

The Council of Lac La Biche County made the declaration at 8:38pm.

Continued heavy rainfall over the weekend has created overland flooding and drainage problems.

Hours earlier, the County asked residents to restrict their non-essential usage of water due to rising water stations at the main lift station in Lac La Biche and the Plamondon lift station.

On Sunday, multiple roads were deemed unsafe to drive on and are closed for the time being.

These roads include:

• Highway 55 just past Britton’s Your Independent Grocers. The detour route is Nashim Drive.
• Township Road 662 is also closed east of Highway 36. The detour route is Range Road 135.
• Township Road 645 is closed near the Range Road 113 intersection (the detour routes are Range Road 114, Township Road 642, and Range Road 112).

Scattered showers are expected in the forecast for Monday and sunny and cloud periods on Tuesday.

With files from Bianca Mazziotti.