| Comments | On April 26th, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo declared a State of Local Emergency when an ice jam caused flooding along the Athabasca, Snye and Clearwater Rivers. The waters rose as high as 4.5-6 m - some within a matter of hours. As a result of the flooding, roughly 13,000 individuals in the lower townsite were evacuated until May 2nd; this one was of the first major evacuations in the world to take place during the pandemic. Over 1,200 structures (mostly commercial) and vehicles were damaged which caused an estimated $549 million (CAD 2020) in insured losses. As a result of the flood, 1 individual was fatally injured and another taken to hospital when the waters quickly rose along the Athabasca River while they were ATVing near Fort McKay First Nation. |