Although steady rains have let up a little over the flood-ravaged Lac La Biche Couty, the municipality continues to be under State of Local Emergency with water and travel restrictions still in place.
The non-essential water restrictions, highway closures and a Tuesday night mandatory evacuation order for residents along the Old Conklin Road are still in place for all county residents, says Lac La Biche County spokesperson Jihad Moghrabi.
"It is precaution," he said, explaining that all the best planning is still dependent on Mother Nature.
Lac La Biche Public Works Manager Brian Shakpa agrees, saying that in the three days since the evacuation order for areas on the west side of the Lac La Biche hamlet was issued — and a day after it was lifted — any breaks in the rain are very welcome — but not a sign that the worst is over.
"Every sunny day we get gives us that much more breathing space," said Shapka, adding that a sunny sky doesn't mean all the worries have past.
On Tuesday night, afer the first full day in almost two weeks without rain, a second evacuation notice was ordered for an area north of the Kilometre 7 marker on the Old Conklin Road. Washed out portions of the gravel road and bridges had the potential to strand any residents.
Municipal offiials and staff in the emergency management Incident Command Post say there are still many scenarios remaining in play that could jeopardize residents, the environment and infrastructure.
Beaver dams around the area are currently holding back a lot of standing water, said water and waste water foreman John Skjervsen, admitting that the dam-building animals are normally a nuiscance when it comes to water drainage ‚ but right now, they are also allowing crews to make some inroads.
"They're probably helping us out by holding back that water," he said.
Skjervsen also said it's easy for the public to think the worst is over when the rain stops — but it can take hours after steady rains for utility systems to return to their original levels. Water has a long way to go through the system, said Skjervsen, explaining that last Monday morning, as the most recent rainstorm in two weeks of saturating storms stopped at about 1 am, the plant didn't see any slow down until about eight.
"It can can take at least that many hours before we see a reduction in flow at the liftstation," he said.
The same delays and the uncertainty of what is still awaiting 'up-stream' are on the minds of all the crews continuing to work on the flooding emergency.
Shapka said beaver dams, blocked culverts and railway tracks in the area have been part of the drainage issues for the last week.
Looking down
County offiicials were in the air on Tuesday, surveying the damage ... and the potential for more damage ... across the region. Skjervsen said the amounts of standing water in most places is getitng smaller, but "there's still huge amounts of water that can still be coming."
The continuing threat of flooding means the Local State of Emergency will remain in place for the time being.