Last week was marked by record-breaking hot weather in western Canada. Wildfires broke out in parts of Alberta, and rapid snowmelt caused flooding in the interior of British Columbia. The impact of the elements forced thousands of people to leave their homes, writes Reuters.
More than 13,000 Albertans have been ordered to evacuate as the region experienced 78 fires in a short time. Among the hardest hit areas was the Little Red River Cree area, where the Fox Lake fire destroyed 20 homes and a police station.
The entire population of the Drayton Valley (about 7 thousand people), located 140 km west of the provincial capital of Edmonton, was also ordered to evacuate.
A separate statement was made by the management of Pembina Pipeline Corp – the company operates oil gathering pipelines in the region. Here they indicated that they had taken special measures to neutralize the possible impact of fires on infrastructure.
In addition, rivers overflowed their banks in British Columbia, forcing authorities to block roads in many localities within the province. Both the floods and the fires were fueled by the region’s rapid onset of unseasonably high temperatures.
