The Banff townsite escaped a regional flooding crisis relatively unscathed, despite the flows of the Bow River blowing away the previous record in the aftermath of a torrential downpour.
The previous flow record of the Bow River through Banff set in 1923 of 380 cubic metres per second was replaced by 444 cubic metres per second on Friday (June 21). Last year’s peak was in the 260 range.
With the fierce rain storm forcing the river levels to rise swiftly, several hundred residents at Rocky Mountain Housing Co-operative on Birch Avenue were evacuated.
Areas near the Bow River, including Central Park, Bow Avenue, Banff recreation grounds and Warner Stables were flooded. Parts of the Banff Springs golf course were also under water.
Just as the flood threat subsided, a flooded transformer failed at the Cascade power plant, knocking out power to the Bow Valley from Banff to Lake Louise for seven hours Saturday night. Phone, Internet and 911 services were spotty in the days to follow.
The Trans-Canada Highway westbound was wiped out 15 kilometres east of Banff by floodwaters at Carrot Creek late Thursday and roads to the west were closed for a while. Essential services such as groceries were still able to reach the town.
“From a Banff perspective, it’s hard to say we’ve had much difficulty at all. We look at the rest of the province and we have to say we’re feeling pretty lucky,” said Mayor Karen Sorensen.
“My heart was breaking as I watched what was happening in Canmore. We will continue to provide whatever help we can to make sure our neighbours to the east of us are functioning as well as possible.”
Sorensen said Banff woke to the devastating news of what was happening in Canmore Thursday — where raging Cougar Creek forced a mandatory evacuation order for a significant portion of the town, heavily damaged homes and cut off the highway and Canadian Pacific Railway.
She said the Town of Banff quickly sent fire services, bylaw and trained ESS staff to help in Canmore, while leaving appropriate people to monitor Banff’s own situation.
By Friday, while still actively supporting Canmore, she said Banff needed to turn its attention to more serious concerns in Banff as the Bow River’s water levels continued to rise.
Sorensen said dangerous roads and areas continued to be roped off in Banff, including Bow Falls and riverside trails, and staff were keeping a close eye on the wastewater treatment plant and 40 Mile Creek.
“We were monitoring, but never got to the point of concern. It could have, but it didn’t,” said Sorensen.
Several hundred residents were evacuated from Rocky Mountain Co-op 1 and 2 on Friday for safety reasons as neither building had power and one was taking on water.
Residents were sent to Banff Community High School where they were fed and offered shelter. They were allowed to go back home earlier in the week after the fire department swept the buildings for safety.
“Most of the employees worked at The Banff Centre and the Mount Royal Hotel, so they took care of their own,” said Sorensen. “We set up an evacuation centre at the high school and we had lots of offers to help from residents.”
Water filled the roadway along Cave Avenue, and the newly-renovated $13 million Cave and Basin, the birthplace of Canada’s national park system, was closed as a precautionary measure. The facility has since been reopened.
Volunteers came together to help sandbag low-lying areas amid fears of water making its way into buildings, including homes along Bow Avenue, Buffalo Nations Museum, Banff Public Library and the Whyte Museum of Canadian Rockies.
The water came within inches of the backdoors of the library and Whyte Museum.
“It was so close. We were really lucky. It came to within a couple of inches of our back doorway,” said librarian Denise Drury, who said the library took precautions and removed books from lower shelves.
“I worry every year since I’ve been here about flooding in a normal year, but now I won’t be so worried in the future because we got through this event and the water level was high.”
Banff’s new $6.8 million pedestrian bridge, which has sewer pipes slung beneath it, suffered no damage. The official opening has been postponed because of the flooding.
“It was built for the 100-year flood event and we just experienced that — there’s no damage,” said Diana Waltmann, the Town of Banff’s manager of communications.
Warner Stables managed to get their horses to higher ground at the rear of their property after the river burst its banks. The barns and buildings were under water.
“It’s been a little crazy around here, but the horses were fine,” said Amanda Markey, the outfitting company’s office manager. “They were on dry ground where there’s some higher ground at the back.”
Markey said there were plans to move the horses if need be.
“We did have a plan B, C and D, but luckily it didn’t come to that,” she said. “All our staff and animals are fine.”
On Saturday, water levels on the Bow River began to subside, but that’s when the power went down in Banff and Lake Louise because of problems at the Cascade power plant, just east of the Banff townsite.
Water that needed to be released from the Cascade facility backed up along the Trans-Canada Highway adjacent to the plant and flowed over the highway, closing the highway between Banff and Canmore.
This water also came into contact with a transformer at the facility, which failed, creating a loud noise heard by some in the area. The transformer failure cut power to Banff and Lake Louise between 8 p.m. and 2:45 a.m.
Some of Banff businesses with generators remained open during the power outage to allow people to have dinner, and at least one bar in town was still open for business.
Mineral Springs Hospital was in communication with the town during the flood threat, had back-up generators working during the power outage and a plan was in place in case there was a need to take an urgent case to Calgary.
Before the power outage, Sorensen said Banff believed they were through the ordeal, and a transportation plan, including Roam service between Banff and Canmore, and some airport service with Brewster and Banff Airporter, was publicized.
“Water levels were dropping, we managed to start some transfers on Roam to and from Canmore, any concerns for wastewater treatment plant and 40 Mile creek were greatly reduced and the Town was operating normally,” she said. “The transportation schedule had no sooner been publicized and … the power went out.”
Sorensen said the Town of Banff set up a centre at the fire hall, where there was a generator. Approximately 30 Town of Banff staff and members of the tourism industry worked to keep information flowing.
She said the fire department was active in assuring people’s safety on the highway and in town, communication staff were working non-stop to try and get information out, while others went from hotel to hotel to provide updated information.
“We were preparing for a much longer power outage, and we needed to communicate for this,” she said.
To add to everything, Banff lost Rogers cellular coverage about midnight, which all Town of Banff phones are on. In the days following, Telus and Bell service was out, which can impact 911 service. That problem continued intermittently until at least Monday.
Waltmann said people in an emergency situation were asked to try dialing 911 first. If they couldn’t connect, they were asked to go to Mineral Springs Hospital, RCMP or Banff Fire Hall.
“People can also go outside and look for members of the Banff Fire Department who are patrolling the townsite and on street corners should anyone need assistance,” she said.
Banff’s hotels were full on Thursday night, with stranded people diverted off the highway. Once the highway was opened allowing people to drive west to Golden, occupancy dropped down.
There were several hotels offering discounted rates to stranded motorists and residents of Canmore who could not get home. “There were so many heartwarming stories throughout,” said Sorensen.
Meanwhile, Mayor Sorensen said Banff will be meeting again with officials in Canmore.
“Now Canmore is in recovery, we will continue to do whatever we can to help with recovery … whatever we can to make sure our neighbours to the east are functioning as well as possible,” she said.
