Stunning' floods claim three lives

[Deano]

Floodwaters that devastated much of southern Alberta left at least three people dead and forced officials in the western Canadian city of Calgary to order the evacuation of its entire downtown as the waters reached the 10th row of the city's ice hockey arena.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the level of flooding ''stunning'' and said officials didn't know yet if it will get worse, but said the water has peaked and stabilised and noted that the weather has gotten better. 

Overflowing rivers washed out roads and bridges, soaked homes and turned streets into dirt-brown waterways around southern Alberta.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sergeant Patricia Neely told reporters three were dead and two bodies were recovered.

 The two bodies recovered are the two men who had been seen floating lifeless in the Highwood River near High River on Thursday (NZT Friday), she said.

Harper, a Calgary resident, said he never imagined there would be a flood of this magnitude in this part of Canada.
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