High River mayor aims to install flood emergency warning system

The Mayor of High River is pushing to get an early warning system in place before spring.

• Major flood mitigation projects coming for Calgary, High River

A siren, and other emergency notifications are being promised to residents by the middle of May.

Its not your typical spring thaw in High River not only is there a lot of snow around, but there is an abundance of and nervousness.

"Are people on edge? You betcha, says Mayor Craig Snodgrass.

I am doing my best to communicate that this is not an emergency, this is normal and everything and try to keep the communications line open and just to keep anxiety level down."

Snodgrass says one of the largest complaints from last June is that there was not enough warning before the river flooded.

"There was nothing last year, it failed from the provincial level, all the way to internal here nothing worked."

He says hes doing his best to get a system of sirens in place by mid-Mayto let people know when trouble is coming.

We've put the coals to the fire to get this thing and we have to have some, a way better alert system in this town.

Homeowner Wayne Gilchrest says he grew up in Winnipeg and remembers that citys air raid siren.

"That's all they need here, some type of system where people know what's going on."

The outdoor warning system would be part of a greater notification system during an emergency, as well as social media feeds and texts.

The costs have not yet been worked out.