Flooding In Calgary :-(

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
1
38
Winnipeg
RE: Flooding In Calgary :

I was surprised how ill-prepared they seemed for this. Last week there were shots of people trying to sandbag with grocery bags. This week I keep hearing that there were no sandbags. Somebody dropped the ball...
 

Ocean Breeze

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 5, 2005
18,361
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Re: RE: Flooding In Calgary :

Reverend Blair said:
I was surprised how ill-prepared they seemed for this. Last week there were shots of people trying to sandbag with grocery bags. This week I keep hearing that there were no sandbags. Somebody dropped the ball...


Not sure how "prepared" anyone is .....when something this unusal happens. (not saying they shouldn' t be......at least in basics) Been flooded a couple of times in the past four years......and no matter how prepared one thinks he is.....there is always so much unexpected that happens. This is not the "norm" in Calgary and nor was it the "norm" here. These are rather extraordinary situations. Have friends in Calgary and the stress level is quite high there now.
 

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
1
38
Winnipeg
Not sure how "prepared" anyone is .....when something this unusal happens. (not saying they shouldn' t be......at least in basics) Been flooded a couple of times in the past four years......and no matter how prepared one thinks he is.....there is always so much unexpected that happens. This is not the "norm" in Calgary and nor was it the "norm" here. These are rather extraordinary situations. Have friends in Calgary and the stress level is quite high there now.

All they had to do was phone...flooding isn't unusual for some of us. I can understand the first one catching them by surprise, but we knew this latest one was coming since last week. It was on the news here. We have plenty of experts in Manitoba because somebody gets flooded here almost every year. They could have called some places on the east coast too.

It isn't the unexpected happening...that's understandable the first time, but not the second. It also isn't the stuff you can't do anything about, like that town that had it's main street turn into a river in less time than it takes to drink a beer. What I mean is the little things like not having sandbags, not weighing down the sewer lids when you know a flood is coming, and that sort of thing. It's official complacency and it costs millions when something like this happens.

A non-Alberta example...When we had the big flood here a few years ago we discovered that people had built sheds, garages, and even houses on, or on the wrong side of, the berms and dikes along the Red River. Worse yet, some bozos had even cut out those berms and dams because it interfered with their view or whatever. All of that was against the law, and there had to be official inspections, but nobody did anything about it.
 

Ocean Breeze

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 5, 2005
18,361
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Reverend Blair said:
Not sure how "prepared" anyone is .....when something this unusal happens. (not saying they shouldn' t be......at least in basics) Been flooded a couple of times in the past four years......and no matter how prepared one thinks he is.....there is always so much unexpected that happens. This is not the "norm" in Calgary and nor was it the "norm" here. These are rather extraordinary situations. Have friends in Calgary and the stress level is quite high there now.

All they had to do was phone...flooding isn't unusual for some of us. I can understand the first one catching them by surprise, but we knew this latest one was coming since last week. It was on the news here. We have plenty of experts in Manitoba because somebody gets flooded here almost every year. They could have called some places on the east coast too.

It isn't the unexpected happening...that's understandable the first time, but not the second. It also isn't the stuff you can't do anything about, like that town that had it's main street turn into a river in less time than it takes to drink a beer. What I mean is the little things like not having sandbags, not weighing down the sewer lids when you know a flood is coming, and that sort of thing. It's official complacency and it costs millions when something like this happens.

A non-Alberta example...When we had the big flood here a few years ago we discovered that people had built sheds, garages, and even houses on, or on the wrong side of, the berms and dikes along the Red River. Worse yet, some bozos had even cut out those berms and dams because it interfered with their view or whatever. All of that was against the law, and there had to be official inspections, but nobody did anything about it.

you are right of course. What you say makes reasonable sense. When we were flooded about 5 yrs ago.(first time ) we were sure caught by the shorts..........and one would think the municipality would have learned. Yet when we were flooded two years ago ......again......it was almost a repeat of the previous event. BUT now, when everyone and his dog has complained about their lack of preparedness.....they are finally "doing something" to make things work more smoothly in the event of another.

again......it was not the"norm" here.(due to elevation level---mountain region) So "they " are a tad casual about these things. The greater concern has been rock slides. as this is a more common occurance. But given the strange weather patterns world over .......more people are making reasonable preparations and are very much more aware.
 

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
1
38
Winnipeg
RE: Flooding In Calgary :

See if a rock slide happened here it would take us completely by surprise. ;-)

The weather patterns are getting weider and weirder. There was a tornado down in southern Manitoba at 6 a.m. this morning. We don't get a lot of tornadoes and we never get them in the morning...they happen in the late afternoon after a hot, humid day.

We've had a lot of tornadoes already this year. We've had nothing but wet for the last several years. Before that Alberta, Saskatchewan, and western Manitoba had the drought. Before that we had the big flood here.

Similar things are happening all over the world.

In the last ten or fifteen years how many times have we heard the terms 50 year event, 100 year event, 500 year event, unprecedented, record breaking and never before seen?
 

Jo Canadian

Council Member
Mar 15, 2005
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PEI...for now