MikeyBoy44 Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 City tv updated around 7pm mst that bow river is rising at a rate of 100m3 per second. Things are going to get real crazy soon here in southern Alberta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violator Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I'm in the SW on the 24th floor of an apartment thankfully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dittohead Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 explain how drilling for oil causes floods? A story from a month ago predicting this very thing. Drill baby drill!! http://www.calgaryhe...6756/story.html Canada’s insurance lobby says Albertans are less likely to be worried about weather trends linked to climate change than others in the country, despite a recent six-fold increase in insured damages from severe storms, fires and flooding. But as property and casualty carriers respond by hiking premiums up to 25 per cent this year, the Insurance Bureau of Canada says the province and its municipalities need to get serious about mitigating losses in Alberta that have mounted to an average of $670 million annually in the past four years compared to an average of $100 million annually in the previous 15 years. “Alberta has become the place where bad weather pays a visit more often,” said Don Forgeron, IBC’s president and chief executive. “We could simply raise premiums, walk away and be quiet, but we think there is another way.” Polling done this month for IBC found 91 per cent of Canadians have noticed a change in weather patterns over the past decade, but only 80 per cent of Albertans had spotted a trend. The numbers also showed residents of the province were less likely than others in the country to be concerned about the changes that have made Albertans the worst hit by natural catastrophes. According to the poll, residents were also more likely than other Canadians to make the mistake of naming Ontario instead of their home province as the largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions that have been linked to climate change. Forgeron, who is scheduled to speak to Calgary’s Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, said he isn’t coming to the city to preach to oil executives about limiting the cause of this looming problem. But he does believe governments, business and consumers need to adapt or risk seeing their losses from severe weather continue to rise. “An Alberta farmer who just had his barn damaged by yet another hailstorm probably doesn’t care if the climate graph is shaped like a hockey stick or not.” Forgeron said. “Neither are we, but we are interested in the impact on our customers and members.” A recent study prepared for IBC by the Institute for Catastrophic Loss and Reduction predicts Alberta will see a 10 per cent increase in severe weather events by 2050 as average annual temperatures in the province rise up to four degrees Celsius as a result of global warming. The report says the result will be drought conditions and shortages of potable water in fast-growing cities like Calgary. Combined with a 20 per cent increase in lightning frequency, the dry conditions will increase the likelihood of wildfires similar to the Slave Lake disaster two years ago. Rainstorms, when they come, will be more intense and could cause flash-flooding in low-lying areas and overwhelm existing storm sewer systems. John Pomeroy, the Canada research chair in Water Resources and Climate Change at the University of Saskatchewan, has studied rainfall records on the Prairies for the past century and found a marked increase in the number of multi-day rain events during the summer that can overwhelm streams and rivers. “Those big frontal systems are increasing in their intensity and frequency,” said Pomeroy, “and we’re fast learning that our roads, our bridges and even some of our towns aren’t any match for the rainfall and the overflow that results.” While Alberta’s infrastructure is better able to withstand the threat of increased flooding than that in other Western provinces, he said there are areas like the Cougar Creek subdivision in Canmore that are especially vulnerable. “Cities need to be much more rigorous about where they’re letting people build,” Forgeron said. “That home along the river is beautiful until the water starts running through your living room.” Residential development in older neighbourhoods along the Elbow River and Bow River in Calgary occurred long before the risk was known and the city has had to build embankments or develop plans for the placement of temporary barriers to prevent flooding. But Frank Frigo, a senior planning engineer with Calgary’s water resources department, said newer subdivisions such as Quarry Park and Chaparral Valley have been subject to scrutiny prior to approval. “We end up being very cautious and very concerned about the impact of any development in the river valleys,” Frigo said. While the vast majority of new homes in Alberta are equipped with sewer backup valves, Forgeron said cities and towns need to consider following Edmonton’s lead in providing grants to homeowners to retrofit their properties and prevent basement flooding. Forgeron said IBC is also developing a risk assessment tool that will allow cities and towns to identify where they need to improve sewer and stormwater systems to handle the deluges expected in the coming decades. The province started flood hazard mapping during the 1970s to identify areas with a risk greater than one per cent of being flooded in any given year, but a spokesman with Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development said the assessments are based on historical data and have not been updated to include the effects of climate change. “Flood mapping is woefully inadequate in the country,” Forgeron said. “Governments have not invested in up-to-date flood maps, so it’s difficult to predict exactly where these rivers are most at risk of flooding.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EX_Bert_Worshipper Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 AWFUL! Hope everyone gets to safe ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inane Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 explain how drilling for oil causes floods? Has nothing to do with drilling oil. Rivers flood every now and then. it's building along rivers that can and do flood. Pathetic now how every weather event is blamed on Oil. Mother Nature is a Bitch. always has been always will be. Just more humans and 24 hour news/video to witness it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heretic Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 Whoa - just got a call from my boss, we may have to shutdown the data center at the Suncor building in downtown Calgary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 This needs explanation? Really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heretic Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 My daughter lives in Sunalta - next neighbourhood over from one being evacuated - says downtown Calgary is going through a lock down - she works at the Unicorn...this is scary stuff....I just got an email from Suncor, telling everyone who works at the downtown office to stay home tomorrow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 AWFUL! Hope everyone gets to safe ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 My daughter lives in Sunalta - next neighbourhood over from one being evacuated - says downtown Calgary is going through a lock down - she works at the Unicorn...this is scary stuff....I just got an email from Suncor, telling everyone who works at the downtown office to stay home tomorrow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heretic Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 When I saw "Downtown" on the list of communities I was pretty shocked. Good thing you don't have a subway system downtown it would be acting like a impromtu storm sewer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Well - I don't live there anymore - I'm back in BC now - I just work from home...but yes...good thing they don't have a subway.... Just spoke to my daughter on the phone - says the Bow has breached already... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raoul Duke Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 3/4 of my family lives in Calgary. I hope they're all gonna be okay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apple Juice Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 The fact that they have a residential area called Stanley Park blows my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
:D Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Stay safe, guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violator Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 The fact that they have a residential area called Stanley Park blows my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CALGARY! Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Prayers to those in the affected areas. Hope things don't get hectic downstream in Medicine Hat and Lethbridge areas. Hope people can avoid relating hockey to natural disasters which destroy people's homes and lives. Hoping for the rivers to go down soon and the rain to ease up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillyFox Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Apperantly the saddledome has water up to row 10 submerged .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanucksFanMike Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Apperantly the saddledome has water up to row 10 submerged .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex the Great Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 1989 Championship picture signed by most players apparently ruined as well per Eric Francis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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