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Track repair team was on its way to assess damage, says CP

A quick-thinking family in Medicine Hat, Alta., took action to avert what looked like a looming train derailment.

		Ray and Sue John warned a CP train to stop before it came to this washed-out section of track near Medicine Hat, Alta. (Submitted by Sue John)
		People are coping with the worst flooding they have ever experienced along the banks of the South Saskatchewan River near Irvine, Alta. (John Spittal/CBC)

Ray John and his family were out walking on Saturday, monitoring the water levels in Ross Creek, when they noticed the bank had washed away under some railway tracks.

The area has been hit by heavy flooding in recent days.

The family also noticed a train headed toward the washout.

"So I says, 'We gotta warn them somehow,' said John, whose daughter called 911. "So I ran to a little point on the hill sort of overlooking — maybe 100 metres from where the actual hole was in the ground. Luckily, I had a red T-shirt on, so I took it off and I was waving it and waving it and waving it, hoping they would see me.

"There were probably six or eight men plus maybe the engineer on the train. But you know, hopefully, we averted a bit of a disaster."

However, CP spokeswoman Breanne Feigel told CBC News the CP train engineer knew about the washout, and the repair train was on its way to survey the damage.

"There was never any danger to train operations," she said.

John returned later to find the entire bank had washed away and roughly 150 metres of track had fallen into the creek.

Compensation likely
After touring the area in a helicopter on the weekend, Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner said provincial relief will likely be made available to people affected by the flooding.

"There are some criteria that have to be met and I don't have much doubt in my mind that those criteria will be met in this case," he said.

"As I said earlier, the devastation in the rural areas is unbelievable," he said, adding that his cabinet colleagues will be discussing how to assist farmers in the area who will probably lose their entire crops this year.

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