Alberta Flood 2013

Sorry to hear.

I was in jasper just last week. I can't imagine any of this so fast.

 

I'm in Canmore right now visiting friends. Luckily, their mountain house is on high ground, so we were totally oblivious to the flooding until my wife, daughters and I tried to drive home on Thursday morning and found out that every road out of town was closed. Downtown Canmore is mostly okay, but the east side of town near Cougar Creek is what you're seeing on television.

Unfortunately, my home is in Washington State, so we're trying to drive home. There are a bunch of small bridges that were partially washed out on the Trans-Canada (1) right around the Banff gates, as well as just east of Canmore, so we cannot go either way (to get to B.C. or Montana via Calgary.)

Since this is a family trip, we're not in the 328 or GT4...instead my wife's Hyundai Genesis. Looks like when Trans-Canada is back open it still will be slow going through eastern/southern BC. Luckily the Genesis is comfortable and has a huge fuel tank.

For me this is actually not having the impact as many. I lived in Houston during Tropical Storm Allison, which did billions upon billions of damage in 2001. Lost my 13,500 mile Corvette and Triumph TR3 that I finished restoring a few weeks prior, and the office building I was working in had water shoot up the elevator shaft four feet. So I guess this is a little "been there done that" for me. (Might also be that since I've been fighting a bad stomach bug and a cold that triggered an ongoing asthma problem that hasn't allowed me to sleep well for about four or five days.) Still I understand the devastation and feelings of loss...because I've been there.

And one thing you learn quickly here is that Canadians are just awesome, nice, friendly people. Lots of good humor.

For those Calgarians wondering what life is going to look like -- just take a deep breath and understand that the water will disappear soon. Some things will get fixed very quickly and life will get back to a modified normal over the next week. The Stampede will go on -- and there will be tremendous pride.

 

Wishing our friends the best out in Calgary.

 

I have been in and around Calgary my entire life and this is the worst i have ever seen. Stampede grounds under water is not a good thing. Seeing some of the pics and just going wow that is a lot of water and looking ourside i guess we are getting more. Parents house is fine as they are in the sw and not near the rivers. Better weather next week so hopefully it will dry out a bit.

 

My sister lives in Calgary, but thank God her family was not affected. Spoke to her a few hours ago and she said the water is beginning to recede now. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Southern Alberta.

 

Hope you get home safe Sam!

I posted in Silver, but yes it's pretty shocking how bad the flooding here is actually, the entire downtown is shut down and evacuated, along with most communities along the river valley

Sadly, it appears that we are to expect another flooding sequence, when the upstream dam begins to release it's overflow, combined with the high water level & the run off still yet entering the river from the mountain, like in Canmore area

I'm fortunate to live in a safe area, but did have to evacuate girlfriend and her mother, and my car parked in underground parkade, and storage locker with most of my work tools, are both underwater still, and may possibly not be covered by insurance?

I read here that many home owners coverage in this region, may not be covered for flooding damage, by water that enters through doors/windows

There are reported 3 fatalities due to the flooding, with 1 person still missing

This first photo (below) was taken in Canmore, which is west of Calgary (about an hour travel), the second photo was taken in Highriver, which is directly southwest of the city
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a few pics from within the city, the first one is just downhill from me, and looks over the now evacuated & empty downtown city center core
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I'm in Edgemont, 500 ft above the river, so no flooding up here.

News today says one fatality in Calgary, a woman was found in a flooded apartment in an evacuation zone (Mission), she must have thought mandatory evacuation orders could be ignored. So tragic, but there have been a few people interviewed on TV from High River, Bragg Creek, who had to be rescued by helicopter etc, and in the interviews they say "we didn't think the water would come up here since it never has before, so we stayed home".

It's still going to be Wednesday at the earliest before they re-open general access to the downtown core, where 300K people work. Looks like the cost of the flood reclamation effort will be in the billions of dollars, there's major infrastructure damage to underground rail tunnels, buildings, bridges, roads, pathways.

 

I finally made it home back to WA last night. On Saturday night at about 8pm HWY 1 east and west in Canmore were quietly opened to reduced-speed travel. Everyone made a break for Calgary. Since we were heading west, we chose to head for the Banff gate. We finally found a way on to 1W, but we found a RCMP block at the gate where they turned us around. Evidently the road was open for about ten minutes when Banff electrical issues arose. One woman said the "power station blew up", but the RCMP said it was a "line across the road". Instead of waiting, we opted to cut back through Canmore and head through Calgary down 2S. Lucky we did, because the next day,the Banff gates were still closed.

Going through Calgary and down south (High River etc...) it was clear how much water had moved through the area. It wasn't nearly as bad on the grand scale as Houston in 2001, but still pretty amazing damage. about 20 or so miles south of Calgary (can't remember which town) we saw a house on fire in one of the flooded areas. Off in the distance we could see the fire truck just watching, as it was not worth the risk to put it out. Not uncommon, as flooded houses tend to catch fire one of two ways - 1) the electrical connections short with the water and ignite something close or 2) the uninsured/underinsured owner finds a way to short the electrical system and cause a fire.

We found damaged roads scattered about until around Fernie. (On one section of road, which I think was scheduled maintenance, but the shoulder had been removed, two elk were standing damn near in our lane -- my wife, who was driving at the time, and I had heart attacks in sync.) We stopped for the night in Cranbrook at around 2:15AM. 10AM the next morning we headed out for the Puget Sound region. Unfortunately, there was an hour-long backup going over Snoqualmie Pass near Cle Elum (for no good reason) and when we finally got to Olympia, the torrential rains came down so hard that people were pulling off I5 and it was standing water everywhere. My wife, daughters and I were waiting for the blood, locusts and smiting of the first born...or just wondering what the heck we'd have thrown at us next! Luckily, I know the road with my eyes nearly closed and we have great rain tires. Got home at about 8:30PM.

Now comes catching up with everything, but unlike many unfortunate people in Alberta, my life is back to normal.

 

I'm okay & hopefully insurance will pay for my car + tools in storage lost, others I know have had it much worse, so this next couple of weeks I will be helping them out with what ever spare time I can, today moved some sump pumps down to Erlton, tomorrow will be volunteering & gutting one flood damaged basement in the Dalhousie area, so mold does not have a chance to set in

I would say to anyone who wants to help, this is the Canadian Red Cross webpage and donation link, that would help a lot of people, they do good work
Canadian Red Cross - Alberta Floods
Canadian Red Cross - Donate to the Canadian Red Cross

 

I just learned that this morning over 7000 people showed up at the Saddledome in volunteer, to help clean up there and the Stampede grounds!
That's very cool!!

 

It is truly sad to see the devastation not only in Canada but throughout the world. People have to start understanding that the world is undergoing some huge changes and this may be just the beginning. Living in low lands is an absolute no no an yet we still don't learn...ie New Orleans. Some scientist are predicting that the Mississippi river could grow to 50 miles wide permanently in our life times.

 

Wishing all our fellow Alberta F-chatters a safe return to normalcy -- and hopefully your losses are only material items covered and replaced by insurance.

 

Can't edit my last post, but information was wrong, it was a call for 400 volunteers & 2500 showed up, still pretty amazing!

They've announced that there will be no delays in the Stampede opening, provided any other act of God!

 

He is a good man Chris.

Man, that looks bad