City officials are warning Medicine Hat, Alta., residents to stay away from a mandatory evacuation zone, despite experiencing lesser than anticipated flood waters Monday after a weekend of sandbagging and other preparations.

The South Saskatchewan River peaked at midnight at a speed of 5,460 cubic metres per second, according to the city's Facebook page.

The waters are now starting to recede, said Medicine Hat Mayor Norm Boucher, adding the process will likely take days.

However, "that could change," said Ron Robinson, the director of emergency services. Currently, the waters are receding at a speed of 40 cubic metres per second, he said, but that could change to as slow as 20 cubic metres per second.

Despite the lower speed, the river is flowing through the city higher and faster than ever recorded, CBC's Bonnie Allen reported Monday morning, standing near the river, which had risen about a third of a metre overnight.

These "historic amounts of water" are putting pressure on the precautionary measures installed over the weekend, said Allen, including containing walls and sandbags.

Emergency officials remain on high alert as the waters could spill over these walls. Already, city hall and the city's arena and baseball diamond have experienced some flooding.

In the area near the arena and baseball diamond, the precautionary measures are holding up well. Edmonton police officers built a sandbag wall on a residential street that, so far, has managed to keep the water at bay.

Residents must stay away from the evacuation zone. Residents who do not comply with this order may be fined up to $10,000 and face a possible sentence of up to one year in jail, according to the city's Facebook page.

A re-entry plan is under development, said Robinson.

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Medicine Hat flood waters starting to recede