[Firebot]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

EDIT: Just realized this is the Major Water Main Break thread. There is obviously a better place for this discussion.

Welcome to the grandstanding absurdity that is often CP

Just to give context since this is so off topic (and this isn't directed at you of course), I mentioned this latest break could have been fatal under slightly different circumstances based on the video (which adds an extra unforeseen layer to an already very serious issue). This seemingly to me rather innocuous yet accurate comment somehow caused this chain:

Originally Posted by Firebot

Let's be blunt, based on the videos from the victims there could have been fatalities in slightly different circumstances.

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

The potential loss of life for the motorists caught in this situation is certainly concerning, but no more concerning than the 35 funerals this year caused by the crisis on our roads (nevermind thousands of injuries). Now that's something that would have been worth an emergency meeting where city council could actually make an immediate and dramatic difference. But I suppose we should just tell the orphans and widows out there to be thankful if they aren't having to boil water right now. Such pain. Such tragedy.

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

I just chuckle at the pearl clutching about the danger to the public here compared to what happens on our roads the other 364 days a year, which is something the city could absolutely control better.

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

So I just object to sensationalizing the frightening experience that a dozen motorists had on 16th the other night (which would have been absolutely terrifying with kids in your car) to suggest the feedermain emergency is a bigger crisis than it really is. The situation sucks, but everyone has made it home safe to their families and AFAIK nobody woke up in a hospital bed with lifelong injuries.

Suddenly here we are, deflecting a 2000+ post thread to present a faux virtuous line in the sand on the severity of this crisis, for something that was a bigger problem in the past no less (2005 and 2006 both had more pedestrian deaths per capita).

Something so 'critical' and an 'emergency' that lowering the city speed limit to 30km/h was a much bigger concern of discussion (of which some of the regular posters chimed in no less as too draconian) when the city was looking to address pedestrian deaths. And we have apparently too many playground zones as well. We've had more posts concerned about pedestrian deaths and road fatalities to counter one of several impacts of this water main break incident in the past 3 days than in the past 6 years.

https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=169772

https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=174449

While not wrong that it is a large concern, it seems to be brought up here solely so we can chastise Farkas for trying to call an emergency meeting for a water main pipe break and brand reaction to the incident and additional impacts as sensationalist. It could have worked as a side topic discussion of merit if one didn't talk about climate emergency and flag raising in the very same post.

Now if you will pardon me, I have to boil some water for my family for the evening and check in again on a couple elderly neighbours who needs clean constant water supply for medical device if they are ok, and thank my luck I didn't drive my family at that exact moment I normally do daily in that exact spot where the break happened (making the frightening incident directly relatable even though it's not going to alter my behavior in any way). Unfortunately since we (and our neighbours dependant on the constant water supply) used water for half a day without a boil advisory officially in place, just gotta cross fingers there were no adverse effects, so far so good . Hopefully the boil advisory gets lifted in the next week or two and no further breaks happen that are more 'surprises' with graver impacts. I thank the city for its ongoing emergency work on this, and hoping that we can close the chapter to this no matter the need to do so. I rarely ever talk about personal impacts in these types of threads because they are frankly IMO very minor inconveniences in comparison to what others deal with such as my neighbours.

And hey why have me step in the way of those who wish to discuss 2025's 2.24 / 100K pedestrian death rate that they are suddenly very concerned about in recent days to bring it up in the major water main break thread.