Flooding affecting Fairmont Hot Springs, as well as much of the rest of East Kootenay, seems to be holding steady for the time being — an at least somewhat encouraging sign, since flooding in other nearby locations, particularly Canmore, continues to get dramatically worse.

‘It’s been a wild morning,” said Mainroads East Kootenay general manager Jim Conley. “We’re knee deep in it.”

A precautionary state of local emergency has been declared in Fairmont, where two local creeks had left their channels, which along with a three-foot wide blocked culvert, had caused flooding in streets and yards.

Crews are putting in a new culvert and the creeks have since returned to their channels.

“We seem to have tapered off a bit, but I don’t think we’re done yet,” said Mr. Conley.

The state of local emergency is at this time a precautionary measure, said Regional District of the East Kootenay communications manager Loree Duczek, adding the regional district wants to be ready to respond quickly if conditions change during the next 24 hours (for which there is a continued forecast of rain).

“We seen a moderate improvement since early this morning,” said Ms. Duczek. “There’s still a lot of work to be done.”

There is a sign up at the Toby Creek bridge warning drivers heading up the road to be cautious about mudslides and rockfall.

If people notice flooding or high water levels they can report them at 1 800 663 3456.

Cougar Creek in Canmore surged to dangerous levels over this past night and has continued to rise this morning, threatening to sweep away several homes near the creek and prompting a state of emergency there. Calgary has also declared a state of emergency.

See the eye-popping videos at the bottom of this story for an idea of the situation in Canmore:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2013/06/20/calgary-canmore-flooding-emergency-w.html