After a relatively quiet night, Drumheller has seen little deviation from flood projections shared by Alberta Environment on Saturday night.

   As of 3 a.m., on Sunday, water is expected to peak at roughly 1,300 cubic metres per second around midnight tonight.

   Crews continue to work on mitigation as the water creeps upward in some areas. Last night aroud 6 p.m., crews arrived in Lehigh to begin building dykes around low-lying areas. There, water was inching close to some residences. The Town also provided sand and bags to East Coulee for residents to use on their property. Overland flooding was observed near the Hoodoos.

   Mayor Terry Yemen said they have had a few breaches of the newly constructed dykes, but cautioned it is expected.

   Overnight, there were numerous manned road blocks to keep residents and property safe. Drumheller RCMP Staff Sergeant Art Hopkins felt it was relatively quiet, with very few concerns.

   There has been an increased security presence in the Valley, with 25 extra RCMP members, peace officers, and volunteers. The RCMP helicopter was in Drumheller on Saturday, where it was involved in making images of the river to aid planners and providing increased security.

   Hopkins said he expects the chopper to be back on Sunday, if it is not needed in other parts of the province.

   Residents are asked to take precautions on roadways. As crews continue mitigation work, roads will be busy with traffic.

   "We are moving an incredible amount of dirt, so things are moving fast. If you don't have to be out on the road, stay at home and stay out of the way of the teams working around town," said Yemen.

Stay tuned to www.drumhellermail.com and the Drumheller Facebook page for the latest updates, stories, photos, and videos.

 Drumheller residents can expect the Red Deer River to crest at midnight on Sunday, according to the most recent projections.

The Town of Drumheller held a media availability on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Even during the briefing, river projections were amended, showing the uncertainty of the situation.  The projections shared at the time expected a crest of about 1,300 cubic metres per second, and it is supposed to reach Drumheller Sunday at midnight. The river will run at peak for about 6 hours before subsiding.  In 2005, the river reached about 1,500 cubic metres per second.

Already residents are seeing the river rise.  As of 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, the Red Deer River through Drumheller was running at 634 cubic metres per second. Already some of the banks in Lehigh and East Coulee were seeing the river spill.

Residents went to bed on Friday evening expecting what was described as the one in10 year flood and woke up to predictions of a repeat of 2005. There has been a Herculean effort on the part of town workers, contractors and volunteers to prepare for the worst. A sand bag station was opened at IGA at 10 a.m. Saturday morning, and all day volunteers toiled all afternoon filling sand bags for affected residents.

“It’s incredible,” said Mayor Yemen. “There are a lot of people out sandbagging other people’s houses, neighbours homes, it’s really nice to see.”

He also credits the hard work of the Town CAO and staff for the exceptional effort. 

Dykes have been erected in some low-lying areas. In 2005, there was extensive dyking. Mayor Yemen explained the anticipated water doesn’t warrant the same level of preparations.

According to Ross Rawlusyk CA0 of Starland County, some of the mitigation following the flood of 2005 has helped the community prepare for Sunday night.

“One thing we did not have in place in 2005 was the dyking in additional parts of the valley. There were large areas of dyking that were not there back then, which is now permanent,” said Rawlusyk.

The evacuation effort has been orderly. According to the town about 80 per cent of homes considered high risk have received evacuation notices. About 15 per cent of those contacted have signed a waiver to decline evacuating.

The water system is not threatened, according to Paul Salvatore. The Town has added about 25 RCMP officers to help with security along with Institution staff. The Drumheller Institution has also given hygiene packs and blankets to the Evacuation Centre set up at Greentree Mall.

The Senior Lodges and facilities have not been evacuated. While families or loved ones have taken in some residents, many have stayed in their homes. The Acute Care department at the Drumheller Health Centre has been relocated, but all emergency services have been maintained. Residents of continuing care are being directed to facilities in surrounding communities.

Yemen said the Emergency response committee will be meeting Sunday at 11 a.m., baring anything unforeseen, to review its response.

“Everyone is working together to beat this thing,” said Mayor Yemen