Flooding forced the evacuation of about 1,500 people in Calgary and swamped or cut off hundreds of homes in the city on Sunday after two rivers overflowed their banks following days of heavy rain, Reuters reported. A state of emergency remained in force for a second day as officials feared the Elbow and Bow rivers that merge in the city -- the center of Canada's oil industry -- could swallow more homes in eight vulnerable neighborhoods. The rain that has pounded the western Canadian city of nearly 1 million people for more than a week finally stopped on Sunday, but authorities said the danger had not passed. "It's very extensive damage," Mayor Dave Bronconnier told reporters. "The flows along the Elbow River have peaked and they are currently holding steady, although the flows along the Elbow and the Bow rivers are of extreme concern to us." "There are literally hundreds of homes that have been impacted. It is still critical," he said. "This is why the mandatory evacuation order has not been lifted. Despite a major effort by hundreds of city workers and residents to lay sandbags and push dirt on Saturday night, two major roads close to the downtown core were closed as water gushed against bridge decks. The Elbow River in some low-lying districts lapped up above the ground floors of buildings. --More 2320 Local Time 2020 GMT
