• Flood of 2005
• Historical Flooding
• County Flood Evacuation Order

The damage done

The 2013 flood destroyed commercial buildings, homes, roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Power and phone service was out for days. No one died, but the impact was devastating to residents and business people in the hamlet. In 2017, we were still recovering – many commercial spaces remain unoccupied, two restaurants were gone forever, another in the Shopping Centre, was still closed. About an acre of riverfront land had gone, along with the homes that were there. The Old Trading Post, which was all but destroyed, but had been rebuilt. The county says they’ll open a second exit (the only exit is the Balsam Ave. bridge) for residents of West Bragg and Wintergreen, but as of 2025 they’ve done nothing. Some flood mitigation projects have been done. There is a large, long stone and concrete wall along the shore of the Elbow River.

Alberta Transport rebuilt the wrecked roads and bridges, but the government was mired in a complex debate over a dry dam near McLean Creek or in Springbank. Now, the Springbank site is all but finished. See an animation of how the dam works.

Recovery is underway

In 2025, we’ve recovered. The 2 restaurants are gone, the hamlet is mostly unchanged, but a large development plan is in the works. It was approved by the county of Rocky View in 2021. The project is led by Dick Koetsier, who has purchased a large tract of land in the hamlet and developed the Gateway Village project. “Gateway Village is a visionary neighbourhood being developed in the Hamlet of Bragg Creek against the beautiful backdrop of the Elbow River and the Rocky Mountains.”
Read a CBC article published in 2021 “Massive Project . . .”

The malls are mostly full with a variety of stores and services. Installation of water supply and treatment services in the hamlet was underway in 2013. It got disrupted, but is now complete. At lot has changed, but Bragg Creek remains a cute small hamlet surrounded by residential homes on acerages of 2 to 10 acres with a few large properties of up to 150 acres. Although a few trees were lost to the raging flood waters, we still live in a forest bordered by the wildland of Kananaskis.

Flood in Bragg Creek, June 20-22, 2013

An even bigger flood of the Century than the last one that occurred in 2005. These floods are usually caused by melting snow combined with a deluge of rain, but this one occurred when a storm from the east ran into the mountains and dumped it’s load. Damage was widespread from Banff through Canmore and on to Calgary. High River got hit hard.
Here in Bragg Creek a huge chunk of the flood plain was washed downstream taking a couple of buildings with it. One of the buildings crashed into the bridge. That event and the erosion of the embankment on both sides of the bridge forced the closure of the bridge leaving hundreds stranded and many of their family members unable to return home. Trees came down, roads were closed and there was a lot of property damage.