India floods, 207 dead at this time.
Downtown ghost town, schools closed and extended evacuation regions. 2 missing.
It sucks, but it’s just ‘stuff’.
Canadian Red Cross Donation page.
India floods, 207 dead at this time.
Downtown ghost town, schools closed and extended evacuation regions. 2 missing.
It sucks, but it’s just ‘stuff’.
Canadian Red Cross Donation page.
Trans Canada highway partial lane available, under RCMP control, part of road washed out. Rail washed out, 1A washed out. Town of Canmore has rediverted part of cougar creek, has avoided extended evacuation order. Residents however are dealing with water levels in basements 20cm.
454guy – the same applies to people in Canada – I have no sympathy for anyone who built their 3,000 foot square dream home, 50 m from a creek, river, lake etc. Water moves with little notice and creeks turn into raging rivers within minutes. You want the joy, beauty and wonder of living next to the water, then from time to time the price of that joy and beauty will be that you will be flooded out and I don’t think that others should be taxed to bail you out!!
Civilization has always built near waterways and water always seems to remind man that it is still around. Rivers and lakes are natural transportation routes and the richest soil for growing stuff is a floodplain. It is not surprising then that more modern transportation methods like roads and rail often follow river systems. Build your log cabin another hundred yards away from that stream and tell me how easy it is to tote your water farther to said cabin. Mind you, in the Red River area you can build anywhere and the river will come to you. Having a hundred year flood doesn’t mean that you are safe for another 99 years.
SDA’rs unite.
we can’t control water.
I don’t trust the Red Cross.
Give to a church. They have, virtually, no overhead and all of the money you donate earmarked for Flood Relief will go to the right people for the things they need most. But, don’t just give to any church. Do some homework.
I haven’t trusted the Red Cross since my experience with them in another country and since, here in Canada, they knew for two years that Canada’s blood supply was contaminated by HIV/AIDS but in deference to gay sensibilities, they let this blood be used for transfusions. A whole lot of hemophiliacs — and other innocent people — were infected with HIV. Most of them are probably dead by now.
So far they expect to evacuate 200,000 people from Calgary at 12:00 noon today MST.
This doesn’t include the small towns or other areas in Southern Alberta. Sunny day in Edmonton though.
Some observations while I was out and about today:
Looky loos are idiots, some folks were parking on the shoulder of south bound Deerfoot between 17th and Peigan to take pics as the water began to encroach on Deerfoot.
The SaddleDome is now full to the corporate boxes. We didn’t have a viable NHL team, now we don’t have a viable arena…*snort*
I came home today to water seeping into a basement bedroom, some drywall and carpet is done but on the larger scheme of things this is nothing.
So far only four dead.
The worst is probably over.
There is a story of a man and his cat swimming to safety:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-buzz/alberta-floods-momo-cat-saved-owner-kevan-yaets-183548671.html
The worst maybe over in Calgary but downstream say in Medicine Hat where a lot of the city is built in the flood plain….It will be bad.
I agree with batb – pheque the Red Cross. They were well aware of the contaminated blood supply and continued to facilitate blood transfusions. I can’t remember who the Minister of Health was at the time – some Mulroney hack from Manitoba. He should have gone to prison. People died on his watch while he protected the Red Cross and their agenda.
Maureen – don’t be such a supercillious witch-spelled-with-a-b. This isn’t a case of a few moneyed individuals losing their waterfront homes: it’s a serious disaster (possibly a 500-year flood) where long-standing communities are facing unprecidented devastation, and many of those affected are not wealthy.
There are – to my knowledge – three hospitals/care centres closed or essentially cut off, and I can think of at least two more in the area where access will be an issue. Two are rural (Canmore and High River) and server the surrounding areas; anyone needing medical care will have to go elsewhere as in try to get to Calgary and the road from the west is cut off in at least a couple of places. From the south – once one gets on Highway 2 (and getting there will be interesting), a desperate person can get through.
We have friends on high ground who, while safe, may well be isolated and unable to go anywhere due to numerous creeks bursting their banks. Many workers couldn’t get home yesterday because of the flooding; more couldn’t get to work today. An offspring is trying to find out if a co-worker and her family are safe. I’ve been checking on ‘flood zone friends’. Family members just got out of town and are safely away. It’s not a good scene.
So, Maureen, drop your superiority and thank God, kneeling, you’re not in the path of a river which is deciding to seriously move its path.
“So, Maureen, drop your superiority and thank God, kneeling, you’re not in the path of a river which is deciding to seriously move its path. ”
Which is probably because Maureen is waaaayyyy smarter then the fools(Frances) who build on flood plains,and then whine when they get some water.Yes,for thousands of years,people have farmed on the most fertile land going,flood plains.But they did not live there! Sheesh Frances.You live where you poop?
Maybe turn on the news and have a look at the pictures genius. Downtown calgary is under water dirtbag.
Batb, I agree for the reason you give, and for the PC way the Red Cross treated the refugees from the broken former Yugoslavian state that were brought in to CFB Petawawa in the 1990s. There are church sponsored organizations that do this kind of work for minimal administration costs.
Justthinkin – it’s not just the flood plain people who are affected: it’s those of us who live on the high ground as well. Like it or not, we have to cross rivers and streams to go anywhere; when said rivers and streams ‘blow’, we’re stranded. Further, if the water treatment plants which are – by necessity – near the river are overwhelmed, we have serious issues. Ditto if the sewage treatment plants get overwhelmed.
And this year’s flood isn’t just affecting ‘waterfront’ properties: it’s moving into older areas, places where flooding hasn’t been seen. It is said the Bow River is carving a new bed right through the community of Bowness, which will mean major distruction to those who thought they were safely inland.
I have minor sympathy with the moneyed who build lavishly along the river and breach any available dykes so they can have landscaping and water access. But this flood isn’t just affecting such folk; it’s affecting everyone, and its severity is unprecidented. Cougar Creek at Canmore took out some fancy homes; it also took out the TransCanada. Further south, flooding at Sparwood in BC, which doesn’t sport lavish neighbourhoods, has reduced Highway 3 to one lane. Residents south of Calgary, in the High River – Black Diamond – Turner Valley areas are either trapped in their homes or unable to get there; an offspring is still trying to find out if a co-worker from that area got home okay and if her family is safe.
So, under the circumstances, some basic charity to an afflicted community would be much welcome.
A really grim scene here, for sure. I was amazed at how high and dangerous our Bow river had become almost overnight. I live about 1 1/2 Km away from it on high ground so was unaffected by the events. My sympathies go out to those less fortunate. Just cannot get over the pictures of almost all of the downtown section flooded.
All of this from a super rainstorm. It started Wednesday evening, and by the next morning there were reports of flooding in Canmore and of a washout that closed the TransCanada highway. And by Thursday evening the deluge reached Calgary. Same story for all the other towns south and west of here.
Time to build an ark.
I can’t say that I ever associated Canmore with flooding nor did I every hear of any massive flooding in Calgary during my lifetime. Thus, people are probably justified in thinking that a flood was a low probability event. For most of the time I spent in Calgary over 40 years ago, it was fairly dry.
Given that S. Alberta is prone to droughts and, as we now know, huge dumps of rain, it would be very prudent to build a system of dams and floodways. If the next decade is a wet one, then there will be huge hydroelectric power potential in the stored water and one will have lots of irrigation water in the dry years.
I can understand the desire to be near a river but I much prefer to walk a mile from my house downhill to take a look at a river. Don’t know if my father ever got flooded out in his childhood but he’d look at topographic maps to find the highest place in town everywhere we lived. This flood is likely going to be an extremely expensive event to recover from and it would be worthwhile to start trying to prevent another such event.
You Sir are at times brilliant and exceedingly stupid. I bow in recognition…
syncrodox, I’m sorry this disaster is personally impacting you and your family. My husband and I have friends in Calgary who have been evacuated.
God bless you.
Wow. I see in the comments lots of hate for people who who have really done nothing wrong.
Let me give you a snapshot:
My mother is one of the people who has evacuated herself from High River. Our family is originally from Canmore – not noted for flooding historically. The house that my Mom lived in is not her dream house. It’s not within view of water, a flowing stream, or anything like that. It is sure as shit not 3000 square feet and sure as fuck not 50m from the water. What it is is a split level home that would be easy for my Father – dying of cancer when they bought it – to navigate, with ready access to the hospital and the Tom Baker Center. And when they bought it, they specifically asked and were told that the region was on higher ground and outside of flooding areas.
Since my Father died,she has not been able to sell the house. And that is why she lives in High River.
And has had to evacuate herself.
The denizens of the city meet the reality of nature. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Don’t worry, I’m sure those leftist politicians you keep electing will save you…maybe they’ll institute a new tax…or regulation…or something.
Floods are on our minds in Lac La Biche.
Four canoists were dumped in the Christina River a couple weeks back. Two were stranded for a couple days, then rescued.
The other two are still missing. Not good.
This is worse than Katrina!
Stop the looting in Calgary, send in the Army to confiscate all the redneck guns now!
Stephan Harper hates white people!
The story of Momo the cat.
The Rat Queen is going to ‘rebuild the communities’. Presumably not with her own money, rather with money forcibly taken from people who have sense enough not to live in flood prone areas.
It should have been a hint when insurance policies don’t cover overland floods. But then, these are the entitled…entitled to live in flood prone areas and force the rest of us to pay for it.
it’s those of us who live on the high ground as well
I live on high ground – about 60 feet above the river – and we had our power shut off for 36 hours because the line feeding us also powers a lower area and their power needed to be shut off.
In one of life’s odd coincidences, the power came back on at almost the same minute the sale of our brand-new generator was rung up.
Thanks batb…nothing serious for us just some carpet and drywall…real bad for lots of other folks…terrible really…