What was supposed to be a simply grocery run turned into a nightmare for an area mother and her daughter as floodwaters overtook roads in Westlock County April 23.
Several hours before the county declared a state of local emergency, Jessica Lafleur was heading back home from Westlock along Range Road 263, between Township Road 604 and 610 when her Honda SUV came to a sudden stop and the airbags went off.
“I had no idea what had happened,” she said. “I opened my door to let the smoke from the airbag out and saw there was water rushing under the car.”
Lafleur found herself caught on a collapsed section of road that she said fell out from underneath her. “I looked to make sure my daughter was OK and her seat belt had sucked her into place, so I undid her and called 911.
“After we had disconnected, I got my daughter out of the car and waited for EMS.”
Before EMS arrived, public works employees from Westlock County stumbled across the wreck when they drove by to check on the culvert. RCMP and EMS arrived a few minutes later.
Lafleur said she and her daughter were taken to hospital as a precaution. Her daughter had bruises from the tightened seat belt and she was treated for a broken hand.
The Westlock News reached out to RCMP for comment but had not gotten a response by press time.
Westlock County chief administrative officer Leo Ludwig declined to comment on the accident, noting that the county is dealing with roads washed out all over its road network.
He did advise drivers to slow down and not drive over flooded roads, even if the water appears to be shallow or the road is not marked as closed.
“We’ve had a few roads where the water appeared to only lightly cover the road,” he said. “The water has since receded and left ditches several feet deep.”
