Alberta Flood Watch 2013

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Slava

Well I normally agree with very little that Rutherford has to say, but this is one spot where I totally agree with him. Having the Edmonton radio is virtually useless.

Fully agree. Rutherford's criticism was totally warranted. I know I was out driving for a bit on Friday morning, and was hoping to hear important updates on the radio (the only way to receive updates when driving), turned from Fan960 to 770, it was the Edmonton hosts talking about Edmonton, with occasional Calgary updates that were quite behind. Completely Unacceptable for a radio station that wants to be the radio news source for the city.

[Wormius]

It doesn't look like it has been posted yet, but just got an email from our kid's school that no school buses will be running on Thursday. If your kids take the bus, you'll have to find alternate transportation.

[GreenLantern]

Originally Posted by J epworth kendal

Oh man, imagine if they escaped, some poor soul this week is cleaning up around inglewood golf course and bam! First ever hippo attack in Alberta.

I am pretty sure that there are a few hippo attacks on unsuspecting drunk Stampeders every summer..

[Tailgator]

Hey all - just wanted to take the time to send a quick shout out to you all.

My parents live in Bowness, and on Thursday, I had to burn down there to help them evacuate their house. Both are in their 70's, my dad is on oxygen and has arthritis in his knees so bad that he needs a walker to get around, so needless to say a quick exit wasn't an option.

It was pretty terrifying down there - an army of police officers (who were freakin' awesome to everyone, btw!), HAWCS flying around telling everyone to leave immediately. Every intersection we drove past on Bowness Road by Bow Crescent was filling up with water. The last straw was when the huge tank-like police vehicle drove down a side street to help people. My unflappable father was visibly upset. They were welcome at our house as long as they needed, but it wasn't "home" and they were itching to get back.

They just got the ok to go back home today (sewer services have returned to normal) to a luckily undamaged house! They've lived there 45 years and it's the home I grew up in, so huge sighs of relief all around!!

I realize I wasn't as directly affected as Dion, or some others on here, but I wanted to make sure to send my sincere thanks to all of you! Throughout the flood and crisis, this thread, and you folks, were one of the best (if not the best) sources of info around. Whether it was a tweet, a news update, or even pics showing what the situation was like, you all were on it faster than a Flames trade rumour (sorry sureloss )!

Thank you all more than I know how to say! So take a bow, CP! You are a shining example of what a community - be it online or "on street" - should be like.

Cheers!!

[Dizzyedge]

I completely understand Rutherford's comments for two reasons, one fact that many people do rely on radio during an emergency, and two it must have been frustrating to him to see his upcoming opponent lauded for flood information while he was being screwed by his employer while trying to do the same thing.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Dizzyedge

I completely understand Rutherford's comments for two reasons, one fact that many people do rely on radio during an emergency, and two it must have been frustrating to him to see his upcoming opponent lauded for flood information while he was being screwed by his employer while trying to do the same thing.

I'd like to hear managements side of the story, as Rutherford is known for stretching the truth to fit his worldview.

Making a judgement based on his old-man rants is premature.

[Nehkara]

AckroydBP ‏@AckroydBP 1m
On July 3rd @bostonpizza restaurants in #Alberta will donate $5 from each large and medium pizza sold to #abflood #yycflood relief.

[stazzy33]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Looks like Dave Rutherford has been sacked by Corus, just short of his retirement from radio, for criticizing their flood coverage.

http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/early-exit...rant-1.1341077

Rutherford is completely right on this one. 660 did an amazing job covering this from the very beginning where as 770, not so much.

I understand that some of it has to do with the fact that 770's building was evacuated, but they still should have done better than they did.

Also, I've noticed that 770 has really stepped up their coverage since the comments were made. My twitter has more 770 tweets today than it has had over the past few days.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

AckroydBP ‏@AckroydBP 1m
On July 3rd @bostonpizza restaurants in #Alberta will donate $5 from each large and medium pizza sold to #abflood #yycflood relief.

guilt free indulgence.............

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by seattleflamer

According to the Municipal Affairs Minister, it is a millennial event:

And according to some meterologist on TWN it is a one in seventy event.

COULD IT HAPPEN AGAIN? Studies have tried to answer that exact question, but there is still some debate. One of the key reasons does seem to be fairly agreed on though.
Take a look at The Weather Network's chief meteorologist, Chris Scott, who recently described the meteorological pattern that lead to this historic flood. The 1929 & 1932 floods were caused by similar weather systems, drawing in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. But the frequency of these types of storms has inexplainably diminished. Also, since the 1932 flood, no rainstorm has resulted in anything even close to what we just witnessed. This could be due to a shift in weather patterns, or purely due to chance.
But consider that floods of similar magnitude to this year’s flood are approximately one in 70 year events, and the odds of any given year seeing a flood of at least this level is about one per cent. Considerably low, but not impossible.
To put it another way, it is more likely than not that a flood of this magnitude – or worse – will occur again in the 21st century. In fact, there’s almost a 30 per cent chance it will happen again by 2050.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/new...en-again/8295/

[Rudee]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

AckroydBP ‏@AckroydBP 1m
On July 3rd @bostonpizza restaurants in #Alberta will donate $5 from each large and medium pizza sold to #abflood #yycflood relief.

July 3rd? A Wednesday? You would think that if BP really wanted to make a big contribution they would of picked a day when people order a lot of pizza. i.e. Friday or a Saturday. But it's better than nothing.

[rayne008]

I imagine they are doing it on a Wednesday for precisely that reason, hoping for a dual benefit of a surge in pizza sales on a slower day and the good will of donating proceeds to charity.

[GreenLantern]

Originally Posted by Tailgator

Hey all - just wanted to take the time to send a quick shout out to you all.

My parents live in Bowness, and on Thursday, I had to burn down there to help them evacuate their house. Both are in their 70's, my dad is on oxygen and has arthritis in his knees so bad that he needs a walker to get around, so needless to say a quick exit wasn't an option.

It was pretty terrifying down there - an army of police officers (who were freakin' awesome to everyone, btw!), HAWCS flying around telling everyone to leave immediately. Every intersection we drove past on Bowness Road by Bow Crescent was filling up with water. The last straw was when the huge tank-like police vehicle drove down a side street to help people. My unflappable father was visibly upset. They were welcome at our house as long as they needed, but it wasn't "home" and they were itching to get back.

They just got the ok to go back home today (sewer services have returned to normal) to a luckily undamaged house! They've lived there 45 years and it's the home I grew up in, so huge sighs of relief all around!!

I realize I wasn't as directly affected as Dion, or some others on here, but I wanted to make sure to send my sincere thanks to all of you! Throughout the flood and crisis, this thread, and you folks, were one of the best (if not the best) sources of info around. Whether it was a tweet, a news update, or even pics showing what the situation was like, you all were on it faster than a Flames trade rumour (sorry sureloss )!

Thank you all more than I know how to say! So take a bow, CP! You are a shining example of what a community - be it online or "on street" - should be like.

Cheers!!

Good post, I had a colleague ask if I was GreenLantern on a message board called CalgaryPuck.com

Apparently when he was trying to google any information about what was going on in the early stages, my post in this thread was one of the first to pop up referencing the orographic lift and where all this rain was coming from. Commented on how informative the discussion was and even used the thread as a news source moving forward. The power of CP!

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by stazzy33

Rutherford is completely right on this one. 660 did an amazing job covering this from the very beginning where as 770, not so much.

I understand that some of it has to do with the fact that 770's building was evacuated, but they still should have done better than they did.

Also, I've noticed that 770 has really stepped up their coverage since the comments were made. My twitter has more 770 tweets today than it has had over the past few days.

What is truly amazing is that Corus had no plan for this eventuality, despite having the exact same problem last year.

They are based out of the downtown Shaw building. When Shawmageddon happened last year and they were knocked offline, flipping to the CHED feed from Edmonton made perfect sense. But sound leadership would look at that event and realize that they need a plan on how to deal with their station being knocked off the air. As this weekend past shows, no such plan was created. What's worse is that Rutherford implies that Corus put effort into ensuring Country 105 and Q107 remained online, despite the fact that those stations could have flipped to their Edmonton analogs without anyone really noticing a thing. The one station they own that matters in a disaster was left to twist in the wind.

There will always be a place for talk radio, so QR77 will do just fine. But in my view, that station permanently lost its place as a go-to source for news. 660News was amazing, and even X929 had their DJs working overtime, out in the community giving live updates.

[sureLoss]

@SUNMichaelWood: Photo from @calgaryzoo of 6 1/2 year old hippo Lobi in the floodwater. #yycflood #abflood


@CTVPKrauskopf Photo of Lobi - Calgary Zoo hippo that wedged through a people door during the flood. #yycflood

[malcolmk14]

One of our members here at the golf course lost his house completely. Sad to hear.

[getbak]

Nicole Evans ‏@nicole_e_ellen
Helping out in #yyc and this guy shows up to lend a hand! Only in Calgary!! #yycfloods #yychelps #calgaryflames pic.twitter.com/jUAJB9OFOf

[Regulator75]

Lanny's got some epic old man strength and could probably out work 98% of CP.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by getbak

Awesome, I've said it before, but best thing to come out of Hanna EVER!

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by fotze

Has dion been heard from yet?

It's starting to make me feel a bit weird that we haven't, and I don't even know the guy.