The Great Flooded North

News reporter just said the Bow River flow rate is 1500 cubic meters/sec. which is 3 times the rate in 2005, the last time there was a major flood in Calgary.
Beef, the great thing about Alberta is the optimistic attitude people have. People work hard and play hard. Problems get worked out quickly. I think you have ties to the Edmonton area so you know what I mean.
Some areas of the city are without power and hopefully outages don't spread. That would be bad news as it's cold and rainy and it would obviously mean more evacuations of senior facilities and slow the overall recovery.

 

I absolutely know what you mean. Part of the reason I love the province as much as I do and still consider it my home. I've lived all over Alberta, including Calgary. I have family in Edmonton and Eastern Alberta and a ton of friends in Calgary and southern Alberta. It sucks to sit here and be useless in BC, seeing all the pics constantly updated on FB and twitter and other sites. At least so far everyone I know is in OK shape.

Hopefully the dam holds. It would be devastating if that thing went.

Stay safe misterbc and Iron_Chet and others. Thoughts, prayers, all that heading your way.

 

My wife and I just returned to Calgary yesterday afternoon after a 17 day camping holiday down to Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. We had fantastic weather the whole time until Wednesday night in Radium BC. The campground had a creek that was a raging torrent so we left early Thursday morning. I wasn't sure how long the small bridge in/out of the campground would hold out. I checked the road conditions and saw the Trans Canada Highway was closed at Canmore so we back-tracked S down #93 to #3 at Cranbrook and headed east. The rain and wind was incredible. Along #3 there were parts of the highway washed away and the creeks and rivers were screaming. Normally tame waterfalls along the side of the road were raging torrents, spilling halfway onto the road. One lane traffic only. Big back hoes and Cats trying to clear supplementary channels to help dissipate the water. Small rock and mud slides created additional hazards. I can't believe that highway could still be open but as yet haven't heard of a closure. That's why east-west travel looks damn near impossible. All the news is about Calgary and environs so the closure of a highway not directly connected to Calgary might not be newsworthy here. There have to be concerns about parts of southern BC as well.
Water in Saddledome now reaching suite level. Cant' pump it out.

 

Absolutely crazy. I think I saw a picture last night show Crowsnest pass and it not being so passable anymore. Glad to hear you made it back safe. I whiteknuckled that drive in a blizzard at christmas time. I imagine it was similar for you yesterday.

 

I talked tonight to my cousin, who lives in Calgary and works at the zoo. She doesn't have any first-hand info about the animals - she was sent home yesterday afternoon and hasn't been contacted by her boss - but says they're safe as far as she knows. I hope she's right.

 

Some pretty good photos of the flooding damage at the Saddledome and Stampede Park:

http://o.canada.com/2013/06/21/saddledome-officials-say-staff-safe-expect-significant-damage/

 

I'm sure the mayor is just trying to boost morale in that story, but there's no way the Stampede happens this year, right?

 

I was thinking just the opposite. I am betting they get the place cleaned up and have the Stampede. Might be a few days late or some areas not working as normal, but I'm betting they have it.

 

I would be more suprised if the Stampede did not happen.

The grounds surrounding the Saddledome are where the Stampede happens and while there are events in the Saddledome, the real heart and soul and epicentre of Stampede are the stands on the race track that have the rodeo, chuckwagon races and nightly granstand show. I suppose it could be argued that the bars, hospitality tents, and Nashville North are the real heart and soul but I am a family guy

None of the other buildings sit as low as the Sadlledome so clean up should not be the event that cleaning up and repairing the Saddledome will be.

I am not one for empty platitudes and slogans but I am already seeing "CS Come Hell or High Water" signs popping up online. It is hard to explain what Stampede means to the City. I have been here just over 10 years and I always thought before I moved here that it was just a 10 day fair like any state type fair. I came to learn pretty quick that it really is an all inclusive cultural fabric of the city, you can't help but get caught up in it.

In a city where some of the oil guys really do wear cowboy boots to work year round anyone can dress up in western gear for Stampede and feel part of it, not like you are just wearing a costume.

Coming to work hung over during Stampede is not frowned upon (as long as you make it in). I have a huge attachment to this city as it is where I met my wife, where my children were born and where I have grown my career. The great thing about Calgary and what I noticed as soon as I moved here is that nobody begrudges success. There is no "tall poppy syndrome" It is a work hard/play hard place. There are so many economic immigrants here that nobody cares what part of town you grew up in or where you went to school. It is a very results oriented community.

Companies are already submitting committments on numbers of volunteers for clean up as the water recedes. I know I sound like a gigantic cheese and that there are a tons of places where community comes together in rough times so we are not different in that respect, however I know the city will pitch in and be ready for Stampede.

 

I've been watching this on CBC and it is so saddening.

Naheed Nenshi, mayor of Calgary, is arguably the best mayor in Canada. He's been 100% involved in solving the issues in a completely non partisan way and is utterly frank with the media.

All of Calgary should be thankful for his work and be grateful that idiot mayor of Toronto Rob Ford isn't their mayor.

Ford would probably come up with this solution:

"All those people wanting money to fix the bridges and the buildings and get back to their houses are only looking for a gravy train!"

 

@JR, Nenshi was hugely popular here even before this. He is a pretty approachable guy and what you see on tv is his real persona, not an act, seems to have a genuine love for the city. He is a regular guest on the CBC morning radio show here.

His win in the last election was pretty stunning because he really came out of nowhere and beat some candidiates with lots of establishment money and name recognition behind them. Nenshi used and continues to use social media really well.

I find it funny that given how conservative Calgary is perceived to be that we elected an unmarried Muslim mayor.

 

Interesting (yet completely predictable) that Ford, a loud advocate for less government, is now freaking out because the province wants to taper off the amount of money it gives to Toronto.