Canada: Wildfires and floods

This column of smoke comes from a forest fire near Lodgepole in the western Canadian province of Alberta. According to authorities, 107 blazes were active in the province as of Sunday evening. Twenty-eight of them have not yet been brought under control. Alberta's premier, Danielle Smith, had declared a state of emergency on Saturday because of the "unprecedented situation."

Canada is experiencing a hot and dry spring: wildfires are being fueled by temperatures that are up to 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) above average in some places. Wind and dry conditions are aiding the spread of flames: More than 375,000 hectares of land (about the area of Mallorca) have already burned in Alberta.

What looks like a vacation park is in fact an emergency shelter: Outside Drayton Valley in central Alberta, people camp in mobile homes in a parking lot. The 7,000 residents of the small town had to leave their homes over the weekend because of the forest fires. In total, almost 30,000 people were evacuated in Alberta.

A police vehicle seals off a road near Drayton Valley. All resources must be deployed to combat the crisis, government leader Danielle Smith said. The situation is volatile, she added: "All it takes is a few sparks to start terrifying fires." Strong winds and high temperatures are expected to continue over the next days and weeks.

Southern Alberta saw scattered rain showers over the weekend. "This has allowed firefighters to move into zones they previously could not approach because of extreme fires," said a spokeswoman for the Alberta Wildfire Authority. But this good news only affected the south of the province. "Extremely difficult conditions" continued to prevail in the north.

People fleeing the fires can register and receive food at this evacuation center in Alberta's provincial capital Edmonton. Some affected people were taken to safety by boat or helicopter. Thousands more Canadians are being urged to prepare to evacuate, according to Alberta's premier Danielle Smith.

In other regions of Canada, it's not fire but water that's the problem: In Alberta's neighboring western province of British Columbia, record temperatures caused the snow to melt so quickly that rivers burst their banks in some places. Here in Gatineau in the eastern province of Quebec, heavy rain and melting snow also led to flooding.

Alberta alone has already seen more than 360 wildfires this year. "That's significantly more than in previous years," said Christie Tucker of Alberta Wildfire. Climate scientists say global warming is increasing the intensity and likelihood of extreme weather events and their consequences.