The Calgary Fire Department is advising Calgarians against boating and all other watercraft activities on the Bow River.
The intense rain on Friday and Saturday resulted in high flow rates that make river conditions dangerous. All river access points are closed while the advisory is in effect.
Members of Calgary Fire Department Aquatics Team will be monitoring the river while the advisory is in place.
The rain also caused many events around the city to be cancelled or postponed. Races at the Red Bull Rocks and Logs race were all shuffled to Sunday. The Wildrose Motocross park in southeast Calgary, meanwhile, was a muddy mess on Saturday.
“The rain just wouldn’t stop,” said race director Shane Cuthbertson on Saturday afternoon. “It’s saturated everything and now we have a nice break in the weather so it will give the track some time to dry out.”
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In Brentwood, unassembled nets lay on the saturated ground on Saturday as “Super Soccer Saturday” became “Super Soggy Saturday.” Volunteers were left scrambling to adjust 59 teams and 600 players with nearly all games cancelled on Friday and Saturday because of lightning and heavy rain.
“We just completely panicked. Can we email 600 people and expect them to be accommodating to a complete reshuffling of their whole weekend?” said tournament organizer Lindsey Rostoker. She said with the help of loads of volunteers, many of the games were salvaged and pushed ahead to Sunday.
“We’ve been really fortunate that everybody has been so accommodating and flexible,” said volunteer Marie Henderson. “People around here know what Calgary weather is like and they’re used to cancelling games and rescheduling games in the middle of the week, so people understand.”
Several communities reported localized flooding on neighbourhood streets. In Auburn Bay, several complaints were made to 311.
It’s frustrating,” said resident Kayla Denness. “The kids were out here earlier with their water toys and they were enjoying it, but when I go out on to the street, the water is just about over the top of my rubber boots. It’s tough. I have a four-wheel drive so I could get through it, but if I was in a sedan I’d be stuck.”
Some residents of Skyview Ranch said the pooling water has been a problem since winter.
“We have guests coming over tonight and tomorrow it will be difficult for them to park their car and come to my property,” said Viraj Chokshi about the large pool of water that wasn’t draining on his street.
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