Elbow River peaks, Bow River holding steady as rainfall tapers off in Calgary

Some areas within Calgary received upwards of 100 millimetres of rain in just 48 hours, but the forecast is improving and rainfall warnings are lifted.

The City of Calgary said the Elbow River reached peak flow and the Bow River is expected to peak some time Wednesday afternoon. Water levels on both will remain high and people are asked to stay away from the banks of the swollen rivers until water subsides.

"While we received less precipitation than expected we want to remind Calgarians to stay off the river and continue to exercise caution while the state of local emergency is in place," said Sue Henry with the Calgary Emergency Management Agency.

"The flood resiliency planning and mitigations undertaken since 2013 have continued to support our response to this weather event."

That flood mitigation planning includes a large temporary berm constructed across Memorial Drive. The stretch of road will remain closed until at least Sunday evening, the city said, though it could stay longer if more significant rainfall arrives in the next week.

The city has also closed Rideau Park, Bowness Park, St. Patrick's Island and Prince's Island Park due to high river levels.

"While we are fortunate that some of this precipitation fell as snow in the mountains, we have highly saturated ground and are still in our high flow season," reads a statement from the city.