Ice on Bank Flood Again Old Time Belief
Calgary residents grapple with 'surreal' devastation every bit Albertans lose cars, homes in massive floods
The damage 'paints a very articulate pic of what kinds of volumes of water that we're dealing with,' constabulary said. 'This is not just something we tin can pump out'
The tip of the metropolis'southward iconic hat-brim-shaped Saddledome rose above the water on what was otherwise a dead street on Fri: blank traffic lights, closed shops and a creeping, muddy current that was all but impossible to pass.
That was the view from the Scarlet Mile, the bar-filled strip of 17th Ave. that fills with revelers every time that arena lets loose its fans after a game.
The Saddledome was more three blocks away. Surrounded by swift, common cold brownish river water, that was as close every bit a civilian could get to information technology.
While almost heeded Mayor Naheed Nenshi'due south orders to stay off the streets, a few decided instead to grab umbrellas, boots and rain jackets in order to survey the damage wreaked by the muddy brown force of the flash floods. Across the city, clusters of people, safe on loftier footing or at the water'due south border, marvelled at the damage, took pictures with their camera phones and shook their heads.
"I couldn't observe a Starbucks that'due south open up and I constitute myself driving west at 17th Ave. and here I am. At a river," said Sharon Shupe, who works at the casino on the Stampede grounds next to the Saddledome.
She was asked to evacuate her workplace Thursday at 5 p.k.
By morning, she was non able to get close plenty to even see it. The city confirmed the arena had been filled with water to the 10th row. The Stampede grounds seemed unreachable by foot or machine.
That kind of damage "paints a very clear picture of what kinds of volumes of water that we're dealing with,'' said Deputy Police Principal Trevor Daroux. "This is not simply something nosotros tin can pump out."
Ms. Shupe said the whole scene was "surreal. It'due south very surreal. There's a log in the middle of the road. My workplace is flooded and people I know lost their homes in High River. A friend lives in Bragg Creek, or she did. I haven't been able to contact her to meet if she's OK or what. It's totally insane. I've never seen anything similar this. Await, there's debris floating down Macleod Trail right now."
After a tense nighttime of creeping rivers, urban center officials spent Friday struggling to keep Calgarians away from the water that showed no signs of abating by afternoon.
The city cut power and gas to many homes. Across the city, the sound of sirens was unavoidable.
Several residential neighbourhoods were drowned past several feet of river h2o. Downtown streets were made impassable by churning muck.
In Mission, an enclave in the urban center's southeast, overflowing water lapped at the entrance of a local diner. "I think it's just a matter of time before we showtime to overflowing," said owner Mhairi O'Donnell, 33, watching from behind barricades.
She said she received an evacuation discover from the city on Thursday at 3 p.m., a few hours before the street began to flood. Friday morning she returned to the diner to call back cash and identify stock items on higher surfaces. Ms. O'Donnell, who said she opened the Mission Diner more than than two years agone, held back tears as the water advanced.
"I take no idea what to do. No idea at all," she said.
Residents who had not yet been evacuated were expecting to leave Friday night. Stephane Orr, 27, pointed to her firm on the edge of the evacuation zone. "I'one thousand terrified. This is really scary," she said.
Across the city, those caught in a second moving ridge of evacuations were making contingency plans. Prateek Bhatnagar, 26, fled his downtown condo unit wearing flip-flops and shorts, with a backpack slung over his shoulder.
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He said he planned to stay with an uncle in the metropolis'south northeast. The water had flooded his building's parking garage. "My motorcar is pretty much done now," he said, in disbelief. "I've never seen anything like this."
In Calgary'due south Chinatown, Tsz-Yee John Chiu, 49, came to bank check on his elderly begetter. The city, he said, "should have been more prepared with sandbags" after the 2005 overflowing. During that deluge, "It rained for a month," he recalled.
At the Wah Hing Meat Shop, manager Leon Chui, l, was aimlessly loading boxes of raw chicken into the back of a refrigerated van. "Nosotros tin can't do anything" without power, he said. "It's so terrible."
The prized residential neighbourhood of Bowness was particularly hard striking, with several feet of fast-moving river h2o covering the streets effectually many of the well-manicured homes that once held pride of place on the river bank.
Wandering beyond a precarious pedestrian bridge barely college than the rapids, James Hummelt and his married woman, Rhonda, watched the river's rise, fearing the fate of their home across the water.
"It'due south starting to rise again," he said. "We were hither this morn and it had gone down, but the water is coming upward again. It's probably only six or viii feet on the east side of the river here and if it should achieve that, it would alluvion Montgomery. They shut the power off. We have a sump pump, but if it comes in our basement, we're pretty much done."
Mr. Hummelt said he grew upwardly in Bowness and had never seen annihilation like this.
[np_storybar title="Video captures moment an unabridged house swept into Alberta creek smashes into bridge" link="http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/21/alberta-overflowing-video/"]
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"When the floods striking in '95, we were nervous merely we were not afraid. I think nosotros're actually afraid," Mrs. Hummelt said. "We're all used to having stuff happen in our lives. Nosotros're resilient people, we'll rebuild. But it'south going to take a lot more than time to recover from something like this. It'southward going to be devastating for large areas of the metropolis, seeing how much we've lost in such a short period of time."
Stephen Harper said as an Albertan, he never imagined there could exist a flood of such magnitude in this part of Canada.
As he toured the region'due south hardest-striking areas, the prime minister urged residents to stay optimistic through this "very difficult time."
For now it appears the flooding has peaked and stabilized, but there are ever fears that more water could take an bear upon on infrastructure, he said.
National Post, with files from Postmedia News, The Canadian Press
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Source: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/calgary-residents-grapple-with-surreal-devastation-as-albertans-lose-cars-homes-in-massive-floods
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