Wildfires and floods across Western Canada

By Friday, more than 13,000 people had been ordered to evacuate in Alberta as 78 fires burned. Among the hardest hit areas was the Little Red River Cree Nation, where the fire destroyed 20 homes and a police station.

Forest fires in Canada. Photo: Reuters

All 7,000 people living in Drayton Valley were also ordered to evacuate on Thursday evening.

Pembina Pipeline, which operates oil gathering pipelines in the area, said it had activated its incident management and emergency response procedures and was “assessing any impacts to current or future operations.”

There have been 348 wildfires in Alberta this year and more than 25,000 hectares have burned, said Christie Tucker, communications director for Alberta Wildfire.

“Wildfire activity is significantly higher this year,” Tucker said at a news conference, adding that fires are expected to continue to increase.

"It's going to get hotter, it's going to get windier and we're expecting some more large bushfires. Firefighters are on standby today," she said.

In British Columbia, rivers burst their banks, sweeping away homes and forcing highway closures.

The British Columbia government is urging communities to prepare for more flooding over the weekend.

“The situation is expected to worsen as higher thunderstorm rainfall is forecast, increasing the potential for flooding,” Emergency Management Canada said in a statement.

Quoc Thien (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/chay-rung-va-lu-lut-tren-khap-mien-tay-canada-post246574.html