Like plenty of other small screen programs, AMC’s Hell on Wheels has opted to shoot in Canada. The Calgary-based program is set to return to the schedule for an action-packed Season 3 premiere on August 3. However, recent and major floods on set may make it harder for the show to finish shooting Season 3 for a while. The show was busy filming last week when floods overtook the set, causing production to shut down.
Deadline first reported the news, noting that the program shoots in Calgary between the Bow and Highwood rivers, which both began flooding after a major rainstorm. At first, production was just cancelled for two days, but later a decision was made to go on early hiatus. The outlet is also reporting that the show was in the middle of shooting episode 306 when the production was shut down.
Hearing about a flood is different from seeing what a flood can actually do to the landscape, but series lead Anson Mount has actually made some photos available via his Twitter account using Whosay. The first image gives us a look what the makeshift railroad-building town looks like under water.
The second image Mount posted is taken from a higher elevation. While we can see some green protruding from the water, it looks like there may need to be some major cleanup efforts on set before production can officially resume.
The only good news is that Hell on Wheels was actually expected to go on hiatus this week, starting on Thursday. So, in a sense, the planned break just got a little longer, thanks to the major flood Hopefully, this won’t wreak havoc on the shooting schedule later this year or on the post-production end of the series.
Hell on Wheels has run up against some roadblocks in the past, but has generally prevailed. It was uncertain whether or not the program would return for Season 3 after showrunner John Shiban resigned back in November of 2012. The show eventually landed John Wirth to run the third season and then nabbed a spot in AMC’s summer schedule. Since Hell on Wheels was already shooting a midseason episode when nature had its own plans, it’s highly likely that we will still see the show in August. The bigger question is whether or not the rest of the show’s scheduled airdates will remain intact. We’ll keep you updated as news of the flood and the cleanup breaks.
