Power outages could last for weeks after flooding in Calgary, Canada

Power outages in the Canadian oil capital of Calgary could last for weeks or even months, city authorities said, as record-breaking floodwaters moved downstream to threaten smaller communities in southeastern Alberta.

Even as officials told 65,000 Calgary residents on Sunday they could start returning to their water-damaged homes, 10,000 people were evacuated in Medicine Hat, where the South Saskatchewan River is expected to burst its banks.

CF Industries said it was temporarily halting production at its Medicine Hat facility, Canada's largest nitrogen fertiliser complex, as a precautionary measure.

The floods have closed some rail lines and the east-west Trans-Canada Highway, and displaced more than 100,000 people.

The floods already look much worse than those of 2005, which caused C$400 million (HK$2.94 billion) in damage. Three people have been confirmed dead.

But officials say it is too early to put a figure on the damage in the western Canadian province and in Calgary, its largest city, with a population of 1.1 million.

"It will certainly be at least the middle of the week before people will be going back to work. There are some pockets of downtown where normality will not return for weeks," said Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.