Historic flooding in southern Alberta

Water rescues were the order of the day in High River, Alberta on Thursday. (Lorraine Hijalte - Postmedia News)

Historic flooding is sweeping southern Alberta this morning as the water from nearly 150mm of rain swells creeks and rivers. The flooding has forced evacuations of nearly 100,000 in Calgary as well as devastated the Towns of Canmore and High River. The water washed out numerous roads including the Trans Canada. Officials have had to rescue hundreds stranded in their homes on Thursday as the water rose in a matter of hours. The culprit is a stubborn low pressure area west of Calgary stalled along the foothills and raining out. Yesterday thunderstorms dropped nearly 45mm of additional rain on Calgary, while Livingstone has had nearly 165mm since Wednesday morning. Both the Bow and Elbow Rivers are cresting today in Calgary with major flooding forecast. High River remains under a mandatory evacuation with widespread flooding across the city. Another 15-25mm of rain is possible today in the flooded region.