Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Alberta Floods Devastate Calgary and high River
It's the week of June 17th. The rains have been relentless. The snowmelt in the mountains above in the Rockies is starting to seep and flow into the rivers. This coupled with unprecedented rainfall combined for a perfect storm for a flooding disaster.
The rivers swelled, and the cities built on floodplains (Calgary being the largest, High River taking the greatest devastation) were hit hard. 100000 people displaced in Calgary.
Shockingly most of the displaced were housed both in High River and Calgary by friends, family, and strangers. The community combined for unprecedented response. Flooded areas, rich (it's hard to help someone who's cleaning off 10,000 bottles of wine to keep from their basement when there's a poor family next door, but people did it!) and poor were hit the same. Bowness, Sunnyside, Elbow Park, all underwater (high river too). A week after the rains subsided all but high river were saved. In fact, under two weeks later the Calgary Stampede, that was entirely underwater, opened for guests.
The city has prevailed, but the question looms, how will we approach the prospect (certainty) of future flooding? No more building? Flood mitigation plans? And how much will that cost? And what is the cost of our current environmental impact on future flooding?