WESTLOCK – As the water level of the Pembina River is expected to remain high for the next few days, Westlock County is advising residents to exercise “extreme caution" around it and its spillways with a June 26 county notification system alert stating that the high-water warning will remain in place until levels drop below their known flood impact level.
In a June 23 e-mail Westlock County CAO Tony Kulbisky said the key message from the initial release June 22 was, “to give people a heads up of the potential for flooding so they can plan accordingly” — the same message was reiterated June 26. Although there’s no significant precipitation in the immediate forecast, the most-recent alert notes that “thunderstorms over the next few days represent an increased risk.”
“I would think that most who live in those areas already know and are taking precautions. The water levels are high and in other areas they are slowly receding, which is good,” said Kulbisky. “What we don’t want is curious folks going out to take a look and getting themselves in danger. We are informing the public and asking that if signage is up closing off access points, to please stay away for their own safety.”
For additional information visit https://rivers.alberta.ca/ and https://www.alberta.ca/flood-preparedness.aspx. Updates will be provided as necessary on the Westlock County website, Facebook, Westlock County Notification System and Twitter.
