Much of Alberta in state of emergency due to flooding

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I have friends who have lived in both the Calgary and Vancouver areas. They've noticed how Vancouver shuts down because of snow and Calgary shuts down because of rain. In this instance, it looks to be much more serious than just rain, however.
 
ebonydarkness said:
I have friends who have lived in both the Calgary and Vancouver areas. They've noticed how Vancouver shuts down because of snow and Calgary shuts down because of rain. In this instance, it looks to be much more serious than just rain, however.
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memories of the Army coming to our rescue that one snowfall... we will never live that one down. :floorlaugh:
 
My cousin lives in Calgary. I heard from her earlier today and at least she's safe. Scary!
 
ebonydarkness said:
I have friends who have lived in both the Calgary and Vancouver areas. They've noticed how Vancouver shuts down because of snow and Calgary shuts down because of rain. In this instance, it looks to be much more serious than just rain, however.
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Calgary doesn't shut down for much of anything. It takes several feet of blowing snow and below -40 temperatures to make us move just a little slower...the flooding is extensive though, so it has definitely caused the city to shut down where the water is.

We have our annual fair, the Stampede starting in two weeks. The grounds are completely underwater right now. That may slow us down a little too, but I know our residents will do everything they can to have it up and running in time.
 
lisser said:
Calgary doesn't shut down for much of anything. It takes several feet of blowing snow and below -40 temperatures to make us move just a little slower...the flooding is extensive though, so it has definitely caused the city to shut down where the water is.

We have our annual fair, the Stampede starting in two weeks. The grounds are completely underwater right now. That may slow us down a little too, but I know our residents will do everything they can to have it up and running in time.
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One foot of snow will almost completely shut us down in Missouri, only snow plows and emergency personnel on the roads. Six inches of blowing snow with blizzard like winds will do the same. Canadians are hardy people!

Yet it's the same for Calgary as Missouri when it comes to flood waters.

I guess only the people in Venice, Italy or the Netherlands can cope with such floods as they are built with canals all around.
 
wea_alta_flooding_20130621-9.jpg
http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/wea_alta_flooding_20130621-9.jpg?w=940&h=559
 
 
Show Me said:
One foot of snow will almost completely shut us down in Missouri, only snow plows and emergency personnel on the roads. Six inches of blowing snow with blizzard like winds will do the same. Canadians are hardy people!

Yet it's the same for Calgary as Missouri when it comes to flood waters.

I guess only the people in Venice, Italy or the Netherlands can cope with such floods as they are built with canals all around.
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Yes, without somewhere for the water to go, it's going to shut things down. We can shovel snow...we can't shovel water.
 
The Calgary Flames arena, the Saddledome, has water all the way to the 10th row of seats. Wow. CBCNews.
 
Medicine Hat has evacuation orders for 10 000 people to leave their homes. CBCNews
 
Calgary resembles Venice. The only thing missing is a lot of boats to paddle from one street to the next!

Has Calgary flooded like this before?
 
Show Me said:
Calgary resembles Venice. The only thing missing is a lot of boats to paddle from one street to the next!

Has Calgary flooded like this before?
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I read that something like this happened in 1932, although it was not as bad. The buildings that are flooded are built on the flood plain and everyone that has water in their house knew this when they decided to build their house on the flood plain. The city manages water flow with several dams, but the amount of water was too much for the dams so it was spilling over the top. It could easily happen again.
 
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.
 
You know you're screwed when you find a mosuito leg on your finger. The explosion of mosquitos associated with warm wet conditions is probably astronomical ... like Winnipeg.

It takes two hours to commute what is normally a 15 minute drive. Bridges and roads are closed - detours everywhere. City of a million Closed.
 
The news just reported that the cause of the flooding was because the mountain areas where the river starts had 3 months worth of rain fall in one day, on to the snow that hadn't melted yet. That rain fell onto already completely saturated ground from the day after day of thunderstorms that we'd had in the weeks prior.
 
lisser said:
The news just reported that the cause of the flooding was because the mountain areas where the river starts had 3 months worth of rain fall in one day, on to the snow that hadn't melted yet. That rain fell onto already completely saturated ground from the day after day of thunderstorms that we'd had in the weeks prior.
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I would like an email on the day that geologists can predict ice melt and city flooding ... or rainfall and circular east winds that bump into the mountains ... like a Chinook.

The cause of the flooding is unknown and may be related to coliding winds (North wind & circular East wind). The only people affected chose to live on the flood plane ... and it flooded. I hope that the federal government is not going to subsidize rich people that think they can live along the river on the flood plane and that everyone else should pay when they mis-caculate (2013 Flood - oops about living in the most expensive real estate along the water on the flood plain).

I'm of the opinion that "gambled lost" is how it should be ... rather than all the people that played it safe (living well away from the rivier's edge) paying for the rich people's house that got flooded on the well known flood plane - next to the river's edge.

Note: even insurance companies know better than to give flood plane dwellers flood insurance. If rich people choose to build a house on the edge of the river and they are not eligible for flood insurance, then no one (provincial/federal monies) should be footing the bill. They made a stuipid decision and perhaps it won't matter for another 100 years.

Stampede 101

I suppose everyone knows what to do with the extra 52 million now.
 
I'm not sure where the flood plain ends along the rivers banks, but it seems this flood went way beyond what would be considered flood plain. I agree that the multimillion dollar homes that back directly onto the river "lose" the gamble they took building there, but what about the average joes who have homes dozens of blocks in from the river?

52 million isn't going to come close to covering the cost of this.
 
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