DRUMHELLER, Alta. (June 21, 2005) — Should we stay or should we go? That’s what hundreds of Southern Alberta truckers may be asking themselves today as rising floodwaters created a state-of-emergency in several communities, including parts of Calgary and Edmonton.

The province is experiencing its worst flood in almost 100 years as torrential rains over the weekend led to raging rivers and flooding that have forced thousands of people to leave their homes. The town of Drumheller is reportedly to have been hit the worst as 3,000 residents were evacuated when waters from the swollen Red Deer River threatened to breach dikes.

“Water level has risen 15 to 20 feet on the Red Deer River. Some areas in town have been flooded out,” John Kohut Jr., general manager of LTL carrier HI-Way 9 Express in Drumheller, told TodaysTrucking.com this morning. “Right now the river is the highest I’ve ever seen it in my life, and I’ve grown up in this town.”

Kohut said that the Red Deer River peaked last night, and local residents are looking at 12 to18 hours for it to begin receding , provided there isn’t another major rainfall. Kohut explained that the major dike system — also referred to as the 100-year flood plain — is at capacity, but has held so far. Residents have been busy building and sandbagging temporary dikes against the river, he says.

Fortunate enough to be located high up in the valley, Kohut says he’s still delivering freight to whichever customers are able to accept it. However, he’s scaled back business operations and relocated equipment to the relief effort — hauling supplies in and out of town and providing up to 15 trailers so affected families could store furniture and other possessions. He’s even surrendered a reefer unit to act as a makeshift morgue in case the local hospital gets cut off. Thankfully, emergency officials haven’t needed it.

“Being in our business, all we can really do is move supplies in and out for the town. But anyone with construction equipment has been going full bore, topping off the dikes and building them higher,” he says. “It could have been disastrous if it wasn’t for this community pulling together. It’s been impressive.

Even though most of his company’s operations are outside the valley, Jason Parliament, dispatcher for Drumheller-based Load Runner Oilfield Hauling, says his trucks have basically sat idle for over a week. After all, it’s kind of hard to work an oilfield when you’re axle-deep in mud.

“Yesterday we had to suspend all operations as we had guys watching their houses and sandbagging them,” he told TodaysTrucking.com “But really, all the rain that caused the flood is what basically shut us down for almost two weeks. We haven’t turned a wheel.”

Based primarily of a fleet of flatbeds, Load Runner doesn’t have much storage capacity for the townspeople. Parliament says the company does have a few winch trucks available to rescue other vehicles that get stuck trying to plow through the flood. “There’s a little bit of that, but as far as our regular work goes, it basically comes to a grinding halt.”

In most of Calgary and Edmonton water has started to recede, although people living close to the Bow River in Calgary and low-lying areas of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton were told to be on stand-by and ready to evacuate today.

Saskatchewan also issued a flood warning yesterday for residents along the Saskatchewan River system. That area is expected to see its highest water flow in 50 years by the end of the week.