Heavy flooding in north Alberta hamlet causes highway to collapse

Heavy rainfall has caused severe flooding in the Northern Alberta hamlet of Marten Beach, near Lesser Slave Lake.

Officials have already put an evacuation order into effect since Thursday afternoon, and only a few residents remained into Thursday evening but have since been evacuated by emergency crews.

On Wednesday the hamlet had experienced 50 millimetres of rainfall which continued into Thursday where the worst of the flooding started to occur.

FLOOD UPDATE THURSDAY JULY 25 AT 8:00 PM: State of Local Emergency remains in effect. Marten Beach has been evacuated. There is no access to Marten Beach due to multiple highway washouts. Highway 88 also remains closed until further notice. pic.twitter.com/ed1xAiO01L— MD LSR (@RUGGEDandREAL) July 26, 2019

Martin river has reportedly risen up to five to six feet and is exceeding the height of the banks. To make problems worse two culverts on Highway 88 had also blown out during the afternoon.

The Municipal District of Lesser Slave Lake had to announce the closure of the highway due to it being washed out north and south of the hamlet.

FLOOD UPDATE THURSDAY JULY 25 AT 5:15 PM: Marten Beach isolated due to excessive flooding, and the MD is working to protect bridges in the vicinity. MD crews have trackhoes on bridges clearing debris below. Residents urged to exercise extreme caution and obey construction areas.— MD LSR (@RUGGEDandREAL) July 25, 2019

Highway 88, after being made inaccessible, began to fall apart due to the growing pressure and erosion occurring from floodwaters.

A frontline worker captured video of the moments when the road began to collapse yesterday.