Overview of the Hazard
In June of 2013, Southern Alberta was hit with severe flooding in what was, at the time, the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history (this record was then broken by the Fort McMurray wildfire of 2016, in Northern Alberta). The cause of the flood was a combination of excessive precipitation, evaporation from the soil, and snow runoff from the mountains. All of this water drains into our rivers and flooding can occur quickly, with little warning, because of the extreme dropoff in elevation over the short distance between the mountains and Calgary. To make matters worse, the city itself was built on a floodplain between the Bow and Elbow Rivers.
While Calgary has had its fair share of flooding over the years, the city was not prepared for one of this scale. At the peak of the flooding, the Bow and Elbow Rivers were flowing at eight times and twelve times their regular flow rates, respectively. This resulted in a disaster that caused over CAD $6 billion in damages and five deaths.
While the cost of the 2013 floods in terms of human life was low, this disaster placed an immense economic strain on hundreds of thousands of people. Insurable losses were $1.7 billion and over 100,000 people were displaced. Relief efforts included the deployment of 2,200 Canadian Forces troops, $45 million raised by the Canadian Red Cross, $93 million granted by the Alberta Government to the Siksika Nation, donations from other provinces, and more.
My Experience
I live in a community, Springbank, that is just west of Calgary and our location in the higher ground of the foothills meant that we were spared from the worst of the flooding. The floods occurred June 19th - 21st, and at that time I was just finishing up the seventh grade. The school ended up cancelling the last week of classes because so many students weren't able to get to school. Many bridges were washed out and there were entire neighbourhoods that were isolated. A neighbouring community, Bragg Creek, was hit much harder than mine as it was built along the Elbow River. Bridges and entire buildings were swept into the river (see this link). News reports showed familiar places made unrecognizable and local landmarks severely damaged. My family was spared from any flooding in our house, but we had to help extended family members when their homes were in danger. Flood Mitigation
While Springbank was spared from the 2013 floods, we are the chosen site for a new off-stream reservoir that is a component of a larger flood, drought, and fire management plan led by Alberta Environment and Parks. The government has finalized purchases of all of the required land and construction is set to commence soon. The reservoir will protect against potential flooding, however, there was, and has been, resistance from both Springbank landowners and the Stoney Nakoda First Nation.
This situation points to some of the issues that come up when planning out hazard mitigation. There are tradeoffs with any decision you might face, and it is likely you will face pushback whichever choice you make.
References
2013 Alberta floods. (2021, December 29). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Alberta_floods
Canadian Red Cross. (n.d.). Alberta Flood Response 2013 - Alberta - Canadian Red Cross. Red Cross Canada. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.redcross.ca/in-your-community/alberta/alberta-major-disaster-responses/alberta-flood-response-2013
City of Calgary. (n.d.-a). Flooding in Calgary - Flood of 2013. Calgary. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.calgary.ca/uep/water/flood-info/flooding-history-calgary.html
City of Calgary. (n.d.-b). Why does flooding happen in Calgary? Calgary. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.calgary.ca/uep/water/flood-info/types-of-flooding-in-calgary/understanding-river-flow-rates.html#:%7E:text=Heavy%20rainfall%20in%20the%20mountains,of%20rain%20water%20and%20snowmelt.
Fedor, T., & Thomas, S. (2021, July 21). Feds announce $168.5M for Springbank dam project. CTV News Calgary. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/details-on-contentious-423m-springbank-dam-to-be-revealed-tuesday-afternoon-1.5515893?fbclid=IwAR1OTNucXpYH-Ndu8xinYK_WGidGTYDAyDk8Vgz6-oXARpCTkHcLMCkHeZ8
Government of Alberta. (n.d.). About Springbank Off-stream Reservoir. Alberta. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.alberta.ca/about-springbank-off-stream-reservoir.aspx
Meckbach, G. (2019, March 1). Why some homeowners aren’t buying flood insurance. Canadian Underwriter. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/insurance/why-some-homeowners-arent-buying-flood-insurance-1004160314/
Teufel, B., Diro, G. T., Whan, K., Milrad, S. M., Jeong, D. I., Ganji, A., Huziy, O., Winger, K., Gyakum, J. R., de Elia, R., Zwiers, F. W., & Sushama, L. (2016). Investigation of the 2013 Alberta flood from weather and climate perspectives. Climate Dynamics, 48(9–10), 2881–2899. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3239-8
ZabaOfficial. (2013, June 20). Bragg Creek Flood 2013 House Breaking [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NObJReIIus8
Comments
Post a Comment