Athabasca’s riverfront is a mess after this year’s Athabasca River break flooded the shores and left blocks of ice and debris piled up in the park.
On April 24, the province issued a river ice advisory for the Athabasca River from the Town of Athabasca to downstream of Fort McMurray.
Overnight April 25, the town’s riverfront flooded as ice lodged on the banks and flowed down the river.
Resident Lori Claerhout said she was on the shores around 9:30 p.m. as the river was rising. She said she was among a few groups of people in the turnaround near the boat launch watching and listening as the ice bobbed down river.
“It’s lots of kind of crashing, the crashing of ice against itself,” she said. “Not that deep groaning that I’ve heard in other years, but more ice crashing on ice, and slush. There were moments where the sound kind of stopped, and that’s when the water started to flood, really, come up over the banks and onto the walkway.”
Due to the damage caused by the high ice and water levels, the town put up a fence around part of the board walk near the Riverfront Stage area.
“It is purely for safety reasons,” said chief administrative officer Robert Jorgensen in an interview. “While there was some damage in the area, it could have been much worse.”
Jorgensen said that the fence will remain up until the ice levels go down, and until any damage is repaired.
Claerhout said she had been standing near a picnic table, and saw a massive piece of ice lodge itself on the banks of the river.
“And then with it, the water just started rising,” she said. “So it’s rising up the legs of the picnic table until it was close to the seat. And then we, obviously, stepped back.”
She added that every year, she hopes to see the river breaking. She said other people arrived on the riverfront, too, pointing their headlights so people could see what the ice was doing.
“Other years, it’s been less dramatic,” she said. “Every year, it seems to have its own character.”
Historical connection
Claerhout said watching the waters rise this year had special meaning for her.
She said she is currently helping Theatre Athabasca with a one-person play about Billy Loutit, the Métis mailrunner who in 1904 raced from Athabasca to Edmonton over flooded roads and undeveloped terrain to deliver a message about the spring flooding.
“It’s the same story – the river floods and we’ve got to do something,” Claerhout said. “I was thinking about that.”
Along the river
The Athabasca River’s water levels and ice jams continue wreaked havoc across the province, as well.
As of publication deadlines, a critical alert for high water levels remained in place for Woodlands County, issued the morning of April 29. The alert also stated that residents in the lower Pride Valley area were being asked to evacuate as roads were underwater.
“There are also a number of ice jams affecting the Athabasca river, in addition the river has risen rapidly over the past hour in the area of Pride Valley East of Fort Assiniboine,” the alert stated.
The alert also warns that motorists should not attempt to drive on flooded roadways, as they risk striking submerged road hazards.
A critical alert last updated April 28 that warned of overland flooding in Woodlands County remained in effect, as well.
“Localized flooding continues and Flats Road remains closed,” it stated.
According to a press release issued April 27, the province continues to watch the situation of the province’s rivers, and will provide river forecasts, emergency alerts and expert advice.
