The overland floodwaters of the Deadhorse Creek nearly receded as quickly as they rushed through Morden Saturday. Our PembinaValleyOnline team had the opportunity to tour some of the hardest hit areas Sunday morning, about twenty-four hours after the creek spilled its banks, and flooded several areas of the city.

"The waters had receded overnight and have continued to recede throughout the day," said City Manager Nicole Reidle when contacted by PembinaValleyOnline late Sunday afternoon. "There are many areas yet to be assessed, but the two main areas of concern, at this point, are the Alvey Street Bridge and Parkhill Bridge."

At this point, what can Reidle say about the future of the Alvey Street Bridge, and the alternative access currently in place?

"At this point I can’t say what the future will hold," she noted. "We had an inspection scheduled for this coming week due to the Alvey Bridge being compromised during the last storm event. The bridge was further compromised this weekend, and will be assessed during the week along with the Parkhill Bridge. The alternative access will stay in place until such time as we have the Alvey Bridge repaired, which is a high priority at this point. We would like to remind residents that the current access is for local traffic only."

Meanwhile, Reidle noted the city did receive phone calls throughout Saturday evening regarding flooded basements, but at this time they do not have numbers as to how many homes were affected.

Regarding overall city infrastructure, Reidle said, once waters have completely receded they will be able to do a full assessment of potential damage across the community.

The Boil Water Advisory for the city remains in effect.

"Our hope is this is was the bulk (of it), but there is still some to melt, as the temperatures warm up this week we will be keeping an eye on the situation," said Reidle when asked whether there could be even more water to come off the escarpment.

"On behalf of the City, I would like to thank our Operations Staff who worked tirelessly to ensure our residents were safe, SERC for their assistance along with Morden Fire & Rescue for helping with the coordination of sandbag delivery," concluded Reidle. "To the volunteers who came out to provide assistance, the municipalities who reached out to offer assistance, along with the City of Winkler and R.M. of Stanley, and to our residents who stepped up to help each other out, and for their patience as we faced challenges brought by this weather event."

With the waters, for the most part, now back within bank, the damage caused by the Deadhorse, particularly at the Alvey Street bridge and Parkhill Drive bridge, are easier to see.

Below is a video and photo gallery of how things looked Sunday morning, while further down are the videos are pictures our reporters took while on scene Saturday morning.

Sunday, May 1st 2022