Tom Carter, another Elbow Park resident, faced a similar situation at the hands of AMA Insurance, which has since decided to reimburse him.
“What they’re saying is, there’s no indication that flooding actually reached or impacted our home,” he explains. “Therefore, we do have sewer back up and that is a coverable claim.”
In a statement to Global News, RBC Insurance said it is covering all sewer backup claims up to the limit of the policy, due to the special circumstances.
AMA is reviewing each claim on a case-by-case basis.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Well that was fun, raced back to Sunnyside to find the back alley right behind the house about 1-1/2' deep and water already in the garage 3" deep and creeping up the backyard.
Luckily we found the drain back there and got the debris clogging it out, she drained pretty damn fast after that.
Then we all had a beer, and thought about the forecast of more rain tomorrow.
Fun times.
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FYI on insurance. Friend of a friend who was hit hard on Bow Crescent said that anyone on his street who had Avaya were getting paid out, no issues at all. He had issues with TD but hearing that TD may be coming around now.
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Good column written about flooding by a professor at the University.
Very good read for anyone who follows this thread. I just wish people would get that they aren't saying to implement everything the Montreal Engineering report suggests, but rather at least take a good look at what could be done to mitigate damage from future floods, since they will happen...it's just a matter of time.
Trying to imagine the "worst meteorologically likely storm" with a peak Bow River flow of 6145 m3/s is insane. Hopefully we will never see close to that.
EDIT: Reading this report on Alberta Transportation's site about flood frequency analysis (http://www.transportation.alberta.ca...ffasixcase.pdf) was interesting. It notes that it is difficult to arrive at frequency conclusions for the Bow River basin because the events in the late 1800s and early 1900s varies so much from the rest. One report noted that "extensive forest fires that are said to have burned 60% to 80% of the Eastern Slopes in the late 1800's and early 1900's might partially account for the extreme floods before 1910." Also, there is apparently no explanation for the "major shift in rainstorm patterns after 1932".
This report notes that the lack of cyclonic rainstorms that draw moisture from the Gulf of Mexico are one reason for the lack of floods in a long period of time. The 2013 storm was definitely cyclonic in motion.
Everybody's home insurance is going to increase because of this. Whether you were affected by the floods or not. We will all end up paying for it in the end.
FYI on insurance. Friend of a friend who was hit hard on Bow Crescent said that anyone on his street who had Avaya were getting paid out, no issues at all. He had issues with TD but hearing that TD may be coming around now.
only reason they are coming around now is because they fear of losing business.
only reason they are coming around now is because they fear of losing business.
Yep, these companies have spent thousands of dollars on supplies to help out with the flood, making sure their company vehicles were seen throughout downtown handing out water and food to volunteers.
They spent all that effort to look like the good guys who want to give back to their community in need, but weren't prepared for the immediate notification by the public via facebook/twitter of which companies were/weren't covering people/coming out to inspect. So now they're all panicking to try and come off as helpful and wanting to cover their customers. It's kind of funny.
I spent a couple hours cleaning out a basement of a home in high river. The waterline on the outside of the house was to my chest so the basement was full to the ceiling and more.
After we had pumped out all the mud and ripped out the drywall/insulation, their insurance adjuster showed up and said they would take everything from there (as they could claim sewer backup) and get their own contractors to work on the place and that we didn't need to have done anything but they appreciated it.
The home owners said the insurance was through their local credit union?
Spent the day in High River as well in a newly opened section of town. I was with a team of a dozen volunteers helping one homeowner . . . . turns out I know her quite well which surprised me. Thought I was helping a random friend of a friend. But I've worked with her before many times through the years. So, gratifying in that sense.
Spent most of the time in the muck in their basement, tearing things down and handing things up and out. Kind of hoarders!!! Way too much stuff!!
As for High River, total disaster area, mounds of debris outside of each house for blocks on end, hugely crowded with residents, volunteers and emergency people, almost no street parking anywhere. A busy hive of activity.
At once energizing and uplifting to be part of it and helping out but, yeah, that town is on its knees and that's depressing.
It will be a long way back.
Cowperson
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Dear Lord, help me to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am. - Anonymous
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Fantastic folks and spirit in High River though. A car of strangers pulled up to each house, opened the hatchback, and a father and his two little enthusiastic little girls present all the workers and volunteers with a car full of home-made sandwiches, banana bread, fruit, snacks, chocolate bars, drinks, water ,etc.
Another truck came over with water in a cooler full of ice and some food as well after a couple of hours.
There's going to be a number of buildings completely demolished in High River. My sister's church, for example, has structural collapse of the main floor in some places. The water level was 5' up the main floor.
Worked in High River today in a couple houses. Totally agree, Thneed - The first house we worked in, I think it's done. Wonderful older woman and you could just see how lost she was. She sure appreciated the help as she gave great big hugs to each of the volunteers at her place and there had to be over a dozen.
Second house was also in rough shape but may be salvageable. We cleaned out the basement after the pumper truck was done and then did the upstairs. The unit was a duplex, and between both side I think we had 30+ people working on the units.
The spirit there was amazing and glad to be able to help. As Cowperson said, there's big piles of debris in front of every house for blocks.
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I worked in High River as well. I was mostly in the deep SE portion and it was pretty bad. We did swing up to the NW end for the afternoon since we got a call about a lady who had a some minor issues and we had the gear to deal with it. Her place wast very bad, but we got her all cleaned up.
It is amazing how much more wide spread the damage is there.
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Last edited by Rathji; 07-07-2013 at 09:52 PM.
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For all the CP members who are spending their time and energy assisting all of those still buried in mud down in High River, you all rock! First the Calgary communities and now High River, well done CP.
Thneed, which church? Our friend who lives there, lucked out with his house, but the church he's on staff with didn't fare so well. Their personal van was in the parking lot and they couldn't get there to get it before being evacuated so it's toast.
Thneed, which church? Our friend who lives there, lucked out with his house, but the church he's on staff with didn't fare so well. Their personal van was in the parking lot and they couldn't get there to get it before being evacuated so it's toast.
Ah ok. Our friend is at the Full Gospel church. I've seen pictures of parts of the inside. He hasn't said anything about major structural but they may not know yet.
