Officials are no longer worried a dam near Medicine Hat will fail, but say homeowners still need to be ready for flooding from overflowing streams.

Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner told reporters Wednesday that he has flown over the area and toured Seven Persons Reservoir dam.

"The expectation is that there is no longer concern over imminent failure of that facility," he said. "We are not out of the woods yet; we do anticipate there will be further melt and that could result in increasing stream flows."

The province has lifted an evacuation order in Cypress County for 41 homes, but a state of emergency remains in effect for that county and Medicine Hat.

Hundreds of homes in Medicine Hat are still under flood notification.

The state of emergency was issued just after 7 p.m. MT on Tuesday over fears of a potential breach of the Seven Persons Reservoir because of rapidly melting snow. Volunteers delivered evacuation alerts to about 650 homes.

'We're going to lose everything again.'— Andrea Boyko, resident

The water level in Seven Persons Creek, which runs through the city, was expected to continue rising because of melting snow in the nearby Cypress Hills, as well as snow and rain in the forecast.

Officials advised people to stay away from that creek and nearby trails.

Maxine Surenan, who had to leave her rural home, returned Wednesday to find the basement flooded, just as it was last June following heavy rainfall.

"The top floor is fine, sure, but we probably won't ever be able to use the basement again, it will be useless," she said, adding her septic field is also ruined. "My husband doesn't want to live in the city, but what do you do? He may have to move to the city."

Medicine Hat resident Andrea Boyko said Wednesday morning she hadn't slept. Her small bungalow flooded last year and the repairs aren't even complete yet.

"We don't know how much is coming, we don't know how fast it is coming," she said. "We don't know if we will have to leave. We don't know if it is going to be in our basements. We're going to lose everything again."

Last time, she wasn't ready. But this year, she has a large pile of gravel and clay in front of her house, and sandbags are stacked up around her home and on each end of her street.

An evacuation centre has been set up in a ballroom at the Medicine Hat Stampede Grandstand.

Torrential rain in southeastern Alberta last June caused flood damage totalling $54 million in Medicine Hat alone.

Many regions across the Prairie provinces are at a high risk of flooding this spring. CBC