Over 20 communities in Alberta have declared a state of emergency as a result of rising waters. 

Minister of Municipal Affairs, Doug Griffiths, says there are 23 communities currently listed in a state of emergency with five more who are in the process of applying for the status.

“In every single one of those communities the state or level of emergency is different. We have some that are still responding to the disaster and working on mitigating it as much as possible. We have some that are starting to work on plans for cleanup and reentry. We have some that are still preparing for rising water levels downstream,” he explained during a Saturday morning media conference.

Government officials have been working together across departments in an effort to respond to the disaster.

“We are making arrangements to get instant management teams that can go augment them. We never take over, we help,” the managing director for Alberta Emergency Management Agency, Colin Lloyd, said.

“The lead agency for all of these events is the local government - the municipalities.”

HIGH RIVER RESCUES

RCMP said they rescued 800 people via helicopter from the High River area on Friday.

An additional 100-200 people were rescued by water craft.

They have confirmed the death of three people and police will be working to confirm whether reports of a body near the Highwood Bridge are correct.

Officers will also continue to go door to door and ensure that residents in High River are safe.

Now, focus has turned to eastern Alberta as those in Medicine Hat prepare for waters to rise by Saturday night.

The government said there were 29 emergency operation centres open in Southern Alberta.

The Canadian Red Cross said it had raised over $2.1 million over the last 48 hours for the Alberta Floods Fund.

All the funds will go directly to these affected and will pay for resources and supplies such as cots, hygiene kids and blankets.

Red Cross volunteers were set out on Thursday afternoon. To donate call 1-800-418-1111 or online.

For up to date information about the floods visit the Alberta Emergency Alert webpage.

With files from Breanna Karstens-Smith