Politic?

The Alberta Deluge

Maureen Parsons, left and Barbara Beck were seeing what could be salvaged on June 24, 2013 from the Black Diamond campground which was destroyed by the flooding waters of the Sheep River last week. At least half of the land from the campground is gone

Workers overlook a trench that was dug through Highway 22 to relieve the flood waters of the Sheep River during the height of the flood in Black Diamond. The area around the bridge suffered a lot of damage when the river changed direction washing out the road that was connected to the bridge on Highway 22

Alex Grieve, centre shovels the sea of muck out of the basement of his parents Rideau Park home along with friends Peter Merchant, Barrie Marshall Monday June 24, 2013. It and was an almost festive atmosphere in the area with friends and families pitching in with the massive cleanup. The area was totalled inundated with the flood waters of the Elbow River help clean up on Monday, June 24, 2013.

The southern Alberta floods caused by torrential rain that began on Thursday when the Bow and the Elbow rivers overflowed their banks appear now to have begun subsiding. Three people are dead as a result of the catastrophic flooding which appeared as though out of nowhere, taking everyone by surprise, including meteorologists. The flood of 2005 that devastated Calgary was named a 100-year-event, but this flooding far surpassed that of 2005 in extent and severity, putting the lie to a century of more cope-able weather events.

In this series of flooding events it is estimated that about 100,000 people were ordered to abandon their homes and seek temporary shelter elsewhere. For many of those people, shelter elsewhere may not be temporary; their homes will have been so impacted by the force and the extent of the floods that water damage may be of such an ruinous condition that their homes will have to be destroyed and replacements built.

The economic hardships that have been visited by this immeasurable force of nature are enormous. There is no insurance that will cover such a force majeure event in Canada. Although governments at all three levels have promised to aid all those affected, it is abundantly clear that no governments can afford to rebuild destroyed homes and businesses through taxpayer-funded treasury. People will be forced to spend what they can to help restore their lives.

The 2005 once-in-century flooding that wreaked such havoc caused over $400-million in damages. Roads and bridges collapsed and were washed out. Homes and businesses were damaged with entire neighbourhoods left in utter ruin. The floods that are even now subsiding have caused far more damage and repairing the damage will be far more costly. The $1-billion pledged for reconstruction by the province is merely a start.

The province is trying to help however it can, starting by handing out pre-loaded debit cards to those who have been displaced. The debit cards valued at $1,250 per adult and $500 per child are meant to help people overcome more immediate needs. "The world changed on Thursday. This is like nothing we've ever faced before, and we're going to respond to the challenge", vowed Alberta Premier Alison Redford.

Volunteers have now descended from parts of the city that were unaffected by the floods; friends, neighbours and strangers have come along to offer food, generators, pumps, anything that might be useful. They remained to shovel mud or move sodden carpets out of flood-inundated homes. The city of 1.2-million people was virtually put out of commission for days. The scale of the clean-up operations is daunting.

Thousands of homes trashed by raw sewage, mud and floodwater rapidly filling up their interiors. The cost of cleaning, replacing and repairing those houses that can be salvaged is the immediate thought of those returning to their homes. City officials have been going house to house helping to pump water out of basements, while volunteers help to haul bags filled with clothing, mattresses and spoiled food out to the street curbs for pick-up.

Houses will have to be assessed for stability. Fears of black mould resulting from the five feet and more of water inundating houses are a consideration for health concerns. Home appliances, from furnaces to refrigerators will require replacing. "We're all trying to figure out what to do. We have no idea what the timelines are. We've never been in a situation like this", said one resident as a small pump began reducing the water level in her home, a few inches every hour.

Communities are still under a state of emergency across southern Alberta. Even Canadian Pacific Railway had 40 high-water calls along its tracks. Alberta is responsible for 6.5% of the national economy; the floods could result in losing one-tenth of one percentage points or $2-billion from Canada's annual GDP growth in June. Millions were lost when tractor-trailers and their loads were stalled on flooded highways and then washed away.

The Conservative Party of Canada was to have met for their annual party conference in Calgary at the end of this week. That conference has now been delayed until early fall. Next week was to have been the opening of the annual Calgary Stampede. The city will be losing its annual tourism boost. The Stampede Saddledome which seats over 19,000 was filled as high as the eighth row of seats, with floodwater.

Stampede officials have vowed to press on with the annual rodeo "come hell or high water", despite the deluge that put much of the grounds underwater. "It's a mess, it is a total loss of the event level" said Calgary Flames chief executive. Hell may, after all, win the contest in this event, this year.