f13.net forums - Flooding in Calgary and southern Alberta

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July 19, 2025, 05:10:48 AM

we're back, baby

So, we've had a bit of flooding here in Calgary and southern Alberta the past few days which has done extensive damage. Basically the entire downtown area has been flooded and evacuated and around 100k people in total have been evacuated from the different areas that have been effected in a city of 1.3 million. Its been pretty surreal seeing a large city like this under water. The Saddledome, where the NHL Flames play, has been heavily damaged as well as the Stampede Grounds where the Calgary Stampede rodeo is held. The Saddledome was flooded up to at least the 10th row, the jumbo tron TV was destroyed and the locker rooms were completely submerged. I'm in the military and we've been tasked with helping with the evacuations and protection of areas that haven't been flooded. About 1200 troops came down from CFB Edmonton (the largest base in western Canada) and are here in Calgary and other towns and cities to help out, as well. I have no idea how long we're going to operate like this and get back to our normal duties. I was actually supposed to be on leave for the next 2 weeks and planned to do some camping near the mountains to the west but thats not going to happen since all leave has been cancelled until further notice and many roads west to the mountains have been washed out.

My home is far enough away from the Bow and Elbow rivers that theres no risk of damage there but I can see the rising rivers and the Glenmore reservoir on my way to and from work. Some other southern Alberta towns have been almost totally destroyed. Canmore, High River and Bragg Creek took quite a beating. Fortunately, the water levels seem to be going down around Calgary but now some cities further downstream, like Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, are now under flood warnings and evacuations. Its been a really weird experience since, while it does get cold in the winter, Canada really doesn't have many large scale natural disasters like this happen very often...anywhere.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2013/06/21/f-alberta-floods.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/map-calgary-floods/

Is there any chance they'll be able to hold the Stampede this year?

Quote from: Reg on June 22, 2013, 06:28:13 PM

Is there any chance they'll be able to hold the Stampede this year?

Mayor Naheed Nenshi (our gay muslim mayor, take that Toronto!) seems to think it can happen but on a smaller scale. We'll see.

Talked with my brother tonight about the flooding... He's been in Calgary for six or seven years now (US citizen, wife is from Montreal, my nephews were both born in Calgary) doing the Geology/Mining thing.

He is an avid runner, and ran to work on Thursday. Running home, he actually had to run through knee deep water in places.

As a Vancouverite I have to say - what, you can't deal with a little rain? HTFU Alberta!

(No, I hope everyone is ok, it looks pretty rough).

Pictures from in the Saddledome: http://flames.nhl.com/club/gallery.htm?id=36968

Sounds like the downtown core will be completely closed until Wednesday, so we've been scrambling to expand our server farm to accomodate the larger than normal external access to our systems. Have no clue how long it'll take to clean up, but it's a pretty huge mess right now. The C-Train tunnels into downtown are completely submerged and power is out for large sections. Our data center is right in the middle of downtown and they went to diesel generators yesterday. It was surreal to see places I had been walking half a day earlier be completely under water.

Stampede is in less than 2 weeks and the grounds are pretty much completely under water right now, so I have no idea how they are going to clean that up.

I posted this in the Useless Conversation yesterday, but it's a pretty good link of photos of it all: http://bizboxtv.com/calgary-flooding-2013-flood-pictures-video/

The crazy thing that is going to become a HUGE fucking issue is that home owners insurance doesn't cover flood damage for water that comes in through the windows and/or doors.

Quote from: Ginaz on June 22, 2013, 07:43:59 PM

Quote from: Reg on June 22, 2013, 06:28:13 PM

Is there any chance they'll be able to hold the Stampede this year?

Mayor Naheed Nenshi (our gay muslim mayor, take that Toronto!) seems to think it can happen but on a smaller scale. We'll see.

Wait... Calgary has a gay, muslim mayor and Toronto has Rob Ford? The world is spinning off its axis.

If that's a real quote I like this guy.

Sounds a lot like when we got hit by Allison. The property damage sucks, and will take ages for everywhere to get back into normal shape, but I hope everyone is safe.

Well, it looks like the worst of the flooding is over and now people are cleaning up. Estimates put this as the 2nd most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history with damages around $3 billion, right behind the ice storm of 1998 in Quebec and Ontario. The cost per person, though, is much higher since theres far fewer people in southern Alberta. Anyway, things are starting to return to normal. The Stampede seems like its going to happen, although it probably going to be on a smaller scale. People are returning to their homes. Some got lucky and have no or minimal damage, others not so much. Roads are re-opening but traffic is still a nightmare thats worse than before. I've been allowed to take my vacation, and we were even given an extra 2 days (one of which I'm enjoying right now) for putting in all the extra hours for the past week, in addition to the 2 weeks I was scheduled to take originally. Video below is of Mayor Nenshi speaking to the soldiers who were helping out on Calgary (I'm not there, he came before my 12 hour shift started at 7pm).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf1vOBZxkkY&feature=youtu.be

And another video of Nenshi reading a children's book because its awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJTZ719my3g&feature=c4-overview&list=UUnBF8K_lQI1Tt7o8-szI5mg