Still high and dry
Jun. 23rd, 2013 10:40 amIf you've seen the news of flooding in Alberta over the weekend, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
troutkitty and I were unaffected by any of the evacuation orders. The one community in the river valley was evacuated, but the big fear in the city was that they'd close the roads over the river, which never happened. We were under a state of emergency, but it has been lifted, and we're no longer being asked to follow temporary water conservation measures.
Calgary, however, oh my hometown. The last major flood was in 2005. The volume of water in the river at the worst of it was four times the 2005 flood, up to ten times its normal rate.
In a city of a million people, 75,000 people were evacuated. (I've also heard 100,000 but I think that's province-wide right now.) The downtown core was shut down, and is still without power, I think. Last I'd heard, though they're starting to lift evacuation orders, most of downtown will probably be shut down until the middle of next week. (Current estimates are that 350,000 people are typically living and working in the downtown core on a weekday.)
My parents's house is well away from the river, and though I've heard from a couple friends who were evacuated or almost evacuated, I think everyone and their pets are safe and sound. My one cousin and his family weren't in an evacuation zone either, and both my brothers are in unaffected cities.
The Stampede Grounds are flooded. The Stampede starts in two weeks, and they say it's still going to happen. The Saddledome (the major stadium) filled with water up to the eighth row of sets, though. Prince's Island Park off the Eau Claire market downtown was practically submerged, and Shakespeare in the Park is relocating this summer. The Calgary Zoo did not have to evacuate the big cats to cells at the courthouse, though apparently it was a contingency plan.
Here's a great quote from Mayor Nenshi. His city wants him to take a nap now.
Twenty-four municipalities have declared states of emergency, though I think most of them have been lifted by now. The town of High River was one of the hardest and earliest hit, with three reported deaths so far. But if any of the other pictures, you've seen a guy swimming after his cat, don't worry, Momo the cat made it. Canmore, just outside of Banff, was also devastated--looking at the pictures and video, I'm surprised the washed-out highway is already open. Banff flooded too, and lost power when a transformer station went down, but they're back up now. Now Drumheller and Medicine Hat are under flood advisories, and the Armed Forces have been deployed to Medicine Hat to sandbag and build retaining berms.
It's been unreal watching the story unfold on social media, with the amount of information available and how communication has worked compared to the 2005 flood.
So for now, we're going to sit tight, count or blessings, and I'm going to finally get around to running the dishwasher and see if it's dried up out there enough to mow the lawn.
troutkitty and I were unaffected by any of the evacuation orders. The one community in the river valley was evacuated, but the big fear in the city was that they'd close the roads over the river, which never happened. We were under a state of emergency, but it has been lifted, and we're no longer being asked to follow temporary water conservation measures.Calgary, however, oh my hometown. The last major flood was in 2005. The volume of water in the river at the worst of it was four times the 2005 flood, up to ten times its normal rate.
In a city of a million people, 75,000 people were evacuated. (I've also heard 100,000 but I think that's province-wide right now.) The downtown core was shut down, and is still without power, I think. Last I'd heard, though they're starting to lift evacuation orders, most of downtown will probably be shut down until the middle of next week. (Current estimates are that 350,000 people are typically living and working in the downtown core on a weekday.)
My parents's house is well away from the river, and though I've heard from a couple friends who were evacuated or almost evacuated, I think everyone and their pets are safe and sound. My one cousin and his family weren't in an evacuation zone either, and both my brothers are in unaffected cities.
The Stampede Grounds are flooded. The Stampede starts in two weeks, and they say it's still going to happen. The Saddledome (the major stadium) filled with water up to the eighth row of sets, though. Prince's Island Park off the Eau Claire market downtown was practically submerged, and Shakespeare in the Park is relocating this summer. The Calgary Zoo did not have to evacuate the big cats to cells at the courthouse, though apparently it was a contingency plan.
Here's a great quote from Mayor Nenshi. His city wants him to take a nap now.
Twenty-four municipalities have declared states of emergency, though I think most of them have been lifted by now. The town of High River was one of the hardest and earliest hit, with three reported deaths so far. But if any of the other pictures, you've seen a guy swimming after his cat, don't worry, Momo the cat made it. Canmore, just outside of Banff, was also devastated--looking at the pictures and video, I'm surprised the washed-out highway is already open. Banff flooded too, and lost power when a transformer station went down, but they're back up now. Now Drumheller and Medicine Hat are under flood advisories, and the Armed Forces have been deployed to Medicine Hat to sandbag and build retaining berms.
It's been unreal watching the story unfold on social media, with the amount of information available and how communication has worked compared to the 2005 flood.
So for now, we're going to sit tight, count or blessings, and I'm going to finally get around to running the dishwasher and see if it's dried up out there enough to mow the lawn.
