There are actually a lot of people who are paddling boats through the streets to get a look.
There was a similar flood in 2005, though it was not nearly as far in. The river rarely gets up to the level of the banks. These two rivers are actually fairly small in comparison to the size of some rivers I've seen. There are lots and lots of places in the world where there are people who have built on or near a flood plain. Anyone who has river front property is at risk, yet every city with a river has houses built along it. Anyone who has a house on the East Coast knows the risk of hurricanes but build anyway. Anyone who lives in Tornado Alley knows there are risks to living there, but build anyway. The majority of the houses in Florida are at risk of sinkholes. There are houses built all along cliffs and fault lines in California, at risk of falling into the ocean with a major earthquake.
Natural disasters can happen anywhere, no matter what proximity you are to a river or not.
A flood of this size has not happened in Calgary before, as far as I know. I truly hope it never happens again, but like any place in the world, there is a risk of another natural disaster. In the grand scheme of things, this is relatively small. Only three people have lost their lives, and not many people needed to be rescued. Nearly everyone heeded the evacuation orders and got out of the way in plenty of time. Yes, there is millions and millions of dollars in property damage, but it can all be rebuilt.
This has brought our City together in amazing to see ways. We have too many volunteers and too much food being donated right now. Out of more than 75,000 displaced residents, only about 2000 needed to use emergency shelters. The rest were housed by other residents. There have only been a couple of reports of theft and looting. Our Mayor, and all the police, fire and ems workers have done incredible jobs. We will have this city back in shape very quickly.
I'm very proud to be a Calgarian.