SUBMITTED PHOTO The houses appear to be on Spencer Street near the intersection of Dunmore Road and Allowance Avenue with the flooding possibly coming from Seven Persons Creek.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
It was a first – the Royal Canadian Air Force dropping bombs in the river to address an historic flood in March 1951.
That spring large slabs of ice estimated to be 10 feet thick created a blockage in the South Saskatchewan River near Police Point, about five-and-a-half miles downstream from Medicine Hat. That caused water to back up not only in the river but smaller creeks as well.
On March 29, between 9 a.m. and noon, the South Saskatchewan River had risen by more than 10 feet. By 2 p.m. flood waters had broken through the “intake into the city’s power plant” and there were concerns about the water supply being affected as well.
The baseball diamond at Athletic Park was flooded up to the grandstands and then a large portion of the fence toppled over in the water.
There were fears that the hospital, not far from Athletic Park, would flood on the lower level.
Three families on First Street NE in Riverside had to evacuate as water filled the basements of their homes and then flowed through the rooms on the main floor.
The provincial civil defence director, C.E. Gerhart, received an urgent appeal from Medicine Hat for “bomber service” to break the ice jam.
Operation Wet Hat, as it was called, was the first of its kind to require the services and expertise of the RCAF with operations directed from C.F.B. Suffield in co-ordination with civil defence authorities.
On the river bank overlooking the ice jam was the house of Mr. and Mrs. Herb Smith, who were asked to evacuate their home because the bombs were expected to shatter glass.
The RCAF aircraft arrived at 9:30 a.m. with a half-ton buster followed by about eight 500-pound bombs. Some were dropped from 5,000 feet and others from a height of 200 and 300 feet.
It did not have the desired effect.
Small geysers could be seen when the bombs touched the surface but they only made small holes in the 10-foot thick ice.
“The obstruction is an egg-shaped mass across the river, buttressed by a triangular pile some 500 feet up stream. Between these two points the block is solid.”
The headline in the News said it all: “Ice Jam Resists First 10 Bombs Send for Thousand Pounder.”
At the height of the flood ice on the river was very close to the deck of Finlay Bridge.
Meanwhile creeks were flooding the Flats neighbourhood with about 10 blocks affected.
The Canadian Army was brought in to discuss plans to use dynamite by drilling into the ice from the shore.
In case the operation resulted in a temporary rise in water levels, arrangements were made to have Calgary fly in an additional 5,000 sandbags to protect the hospital.
The community of about 15,000 residents was on an all-night vigil and 300 people were on alert having been told they would be evacuated if water rose another foot.
The situation was still dire in the Flats.
“This situation was brought about by torrents pouring down Ross and Seven Persons Creeks which empty into the river at Purmal subdivision,” said one news report.
The army faced numerous challenges reaching the site dealing with thick mud. A helicopter had to fly in additional dynamite to crews on site.
While this was all underway the ice flow through the city began to move several hundred feet. This was probably the result of rising pressure from runoff waters from the Bow and Old Man rivers, a city official said at the time.
Seven Persons and Ross Creeks also began to subside.
In those early days people estimated the total cost of the flood was about $100,000 plus an additional $50,000 on repairs to homes damaged in the flood.
