Alberta Flood Watch 2013

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Originally Posted by Burninator

The Herald article has more information now and it sounds like they will help you pay for flood proofing if your house is in the floodway even it wasn't damaged.

I think that was only if you were in a fringe area, not if you were right on a flood plain.

Originally Posted by Herald Article

In flood fringe zones — the portion of hazard areas outside of the floodway — the government will pay for rebuilding homes affected by the recent disaster but will require floodproofing.

The government will pay an additional 15 per cent over replacement costs for floodproofing measures on individual homes in some cases. In other instances, broader municipal flood mitigation efforts will suffice.

Originally Posted by Burninator

The nightmare to me seems like the no future development part. Still really light on details so hard to dissect. But what if someone has a dumpy house on a 1 million dollar lot? Worthless now since the government won't approve a new house? Can't be right. I could see them requiring flood proofing and not providing future money, but to no new development? Crazy. I am guessing there is some detail missing or perhaps the Heralds reporter assumed too much.

Exactly, it's like the reverse of development.. why wouldn't property values completely tank in the impacted areas, no one will want to buy them because of the risks (no support ever again, and they can't even purchase flood insurance if they want it).

The only way that makes sense is that they have to treat it like an voluntary expropriation, if someone wants to relocate, the government buys their land and property for market value before the flood, the people relocate, and the government can do whatever they want with the land to protect themselves from the future costs of a flood there.

I wish more detail was available, because as it is it seems like they just decided something that will be hugely disruptive to the lives of ton of people without any consideration to the consequences. Hopefully it's just a case of being too fast with the announcement and the details are already worked out and will come out over the next few days.

[photon]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

Are they really going to tank entire parts of Calgary that they zoned and approved because it makes more sense than upgrading infrastructure?

It's like reverse development, people make money by buying land and developing it, well now you get to lose money by owning land that's being de-developed!

[Sluggo]

Knowing the history of politics in this Province, the odds are slim that the PC's will be around for the next flood of this magnitude. Its just pandering to the 95% of the Provence who don't want to subsidize the 5% of people living near flood planes some of which are Canmore timeshares or mansions along the Elbow.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Sluggo

Knowing the history of politics in this Province, the odds are slim that the PC's will be around for the next flood of this magnitude. Its just pandering to the 95% of the Provence who don't want to subsidize the 5% of people living near flood planes some of which are Canmore timeshares or mansions along the Elbow.

It is complete pandering except you are flushing me and my wife, two professionals down the toilet in the family home we purchased in 2009.

Not one person mention the word flood when we moved here. No one. How on earth was I to know the risk? Even my 93 yr old neighbor who has lived in Sunnyside for 60 years scofed when the evacuation order went out.

Like I said this is half baked at best. They don't even know how many homes are affected and how much it will cost. I am pretty sure when these guys get advice from the lawyers the'll realize there is a whole lot of negligence on their part and are risking huge lawsuits from many people who can afford it or are lawyers themselves. I mean the city and province were told over the last 10 years repeatedly and they turned the blind eye.

I know many out there think so what, break a few eggs to make a better omlette. A few upper middle class people go broke so our taxes or insurance don't go up. I just ask that you pause on that for a minute. My wife and I are high tax payers, parents, and never caused an expense for our social services. We in fact contribute and donate to charity in large amounts. If we get screwed by this, our house and our neighbors now become burdons on the system. I know this sounds dramatic, but if our house is worthless and we have no insurance, you better believe we are walking away.

And why? Because the city greddily took our property tax, starved our infastructure, and screwed us when the going got tough? It honestly would be one of the most revolting and dispicable things they could do. So that is why I hold hope they won't touch these ideas with a ten foot pole.

We are smarter than this. Reloacate the obvious, but Build the fricking berms and sewers needed so 100yr old communities aren't dystroyed. In the end it will be the right thing and the much cheaper option for everyone.

[Sluggo]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

It is complete pandering except you are flushing me and my wife, two professionals down the toilet in the family home we purchased in 2009.

In my haste I didn't phrase my my response adequately it was more me personally venting since I too live in Sunnyside and 1/4 of our condo's property is in the flood periphery zone. If the waters did reach that level it'll be trouble since the water will rush right into the basement suites.

I think this is quite frankly the Provence folding its arms and saying that the municipalities should shoulder more of the burden in "community based protection". They are not willing to take flak now for spending big bucks on a event that may or may not happen in the next 50 years. Quite frankly they are throwing a dozen or so communities under the bus knowing that ~5% of the electorate lives in flood prone areas their tone would be different if it were ~20% like in Manitoba.

Stay tuned, I think Nenshi a few select words for the Provence... Hopefully from his banned noun list.

[photon]

So all the streets around my condo are floodway, but just my building itself is flood fringe? That's a little strange.

[Bigtime]

If only the province gave the municipalities a steady, consistent amount of funding (hmm hasn't someone been advocating for that since they got into office?) so that things like flood mitigation and prevention could have been done all along.

Maybe I am just grumpy this morning but if I lose an entire developable level of my house I sure as heck expect a good drop on my assessed value and taxes I pay. Or will the city have to look at our area and relax the height restrictions by another floor so we can build a true 3 up plus the house on stilts or piers?

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

If only the province gave the municipalities a steady, consistent amount of funding (hmm hasn't someone been advocating for that since they got into office?) so that things like flood mitigation and prevention could have been done all along.

Maybe I am just grumpy this morning but if I lose an entire developable level of my house I sure as heck expect a good drop on my assessed value and taxes I pay. Or will the city have to look at our area and relax the height restrictions by another floor so we can build a true 3 up plus the house on stilts or piers?

Building a house on stilts is probably the most expensive, and time consuming fix available. It would also look stupid as unlike homes in Miami which I have been too, we are not actually on the water. However, It probably is also the best one.

Everyone had sewer backup, and the back flow valves and sump pumps saved no one. So really unless they want us to do something extreme like jack every house 5 feet in the air, fixing the sewers is the only other good way IMO to fix this mess. The rest is just window dressing the real issue which is pretty apparent with what they have announced so far.

[troutman]

My friend just told me about Sunshine Village:

So I was talking to a guy yesterday who works at Sunshine. He tells me there is a pretty significant creek running across the middle of the parking lot (during the flood, the existing creek took a new path, and it now cuts across the lot). The Parks people and the conservation people are in conversation as to what to do. The damage is fairly significant.

Furthermore, until a few days ago, the access road was washed out. They finally were able to patch it up enough to allow trucks to drive up there.

Oh, and the gondola … one of the footings for one of the gondola towers is questionable.

So for the past month volunteers have been hiking up part of the way to get to the village to do repairs. What sort of repairs? Well, for starters the main day lodge and the hotel have water in their basements, where all the electrical stuff is located. So those are two places that need work.

This is the first I heard of flooding in the village, all of the newspaper accounts are focusing on the parking lot.

[para transit fellow]

Originally Posted by photon

So all the streets around my condo are floodway, but just my building itself is flood fringe? That's a little strange.

I remember some of the discussions when your condo was developed. The challenge was that the development is smack dab in the middle in the middle of a flood plain.

For a long time it looked like the condos would never be built. There was concerned that anything built would divert water to south of 25th Ave. The city expropriated two houses to make a little park by the 25th Avenue Bridge and the flood way was built between your condo site and Lindsay Park Sports Complex.

The condo complexes were built in a flood way but raised... so yes the condos in a flood fringe but the street you live on is a flood plain.

To me, it is an example of the lengths a developer will go to complete a project

[photon]

Thanks, yeah the only thing impacted in the condo was the parking garage, despite the river raging 5-6 feet above street level around the condos the first floor never saw a drop.

Of course parking garage and elevators are still undergoing repairs, but I guess that's better than if it hadn't been raised.

So I guess we'll have to find out what that means.. what kind of extra flood proofing will be required in order not to fall into the "you don't qualify for any further help" category, since making the parking garage waterproof probably isn't a possibility. Berms and other neighbourhood level stuff I would assume.

I guess an extreme would be use the lots between macleod and the condos to build above ground parkades, but most condo's won't have that option.

[FlamesKickAss]

Originally Posted by nik-

TD has decided not to cover me even though it was storm sewer backup. I'll be moving my business away from them.

Storm sewer is not sewer backup. Most policy wordings state the sewer backup come from inside the house.....

[Senator Clay Davis]

Benefit concert on August 15th at McMahon

On Monday morning, organizers announced the plans for Alberta Flood Aid which will take place Aug. 15 at McMahon Stadium. The preliminary lineup of acts includes homegrown talent Jann Arden, Corb Lund and Loverboy, as well as a host of other national and international superstars, such as Randy Bachman, Matthew Good, The Sheepdogs, The Sadies, Colin James, Johnny Reid, Tom Cochrane and southern Alberta-based icon Ian Tyson. Comedian and Corner Gas star Brent Butt has been tapped to act as host for the event.

More acts are expected to be announced in the coming days, and organizers are also working with the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association and the National Music Centre to hold a pre-benefit festival featuring other area artists and musicians.

Calgary’s own Arden was on hand for the announcement, along with the Alberta’s minister of culture and community spirit, Heather Klimchuk, and Peter Jurisic, the chair of Alberta Flood Aid.

Tickets for the concert, which will run from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., go on sale Friday from ticketmaster.ca at a cost of $30, $50 and $100, with the ticket seller waiving its normal service fees.

All proceeds from the event will go to the Calgary Foundation’s Flood Rebuilding Fund, which was set up to support the long-term rebuilding of communities in southern Alberta, including many of the hardest-hit areas, such as High River.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Ho...605/story.html

[kermitology]

Pretty touching song from Corb Lund

http://m.soundcloud.com/corblund/blood-sweat-water

[worth]

"The banks of the river have crumbled,
And the currents uprooted the trees.
But in my eyes no city has looked quite as pretty,
As when Cowtown rose up from its knees."

Well done Corb.

[GGG]

I like the intent of this proposal. There are areas in the city that basements shouldn't be developed. I think the stilts idea is ridculous but buidling foundations 3 feet up and not developing basements in these areas is reasonable. I think if anyones main floor gets flooded they need to be covered. For future Condo delvelopment I think you just need to design the parkades to flood and be okay and start the main floor x feet up.

This legislation needs to be done in a way that gives the people in affected area a choice of what they want to do going forward and make them whole now. This may allow us to get rid of a lot of hundred year old houses and replace them with modern floodproofed Condos and town houses with garages as the main floors.

[HockeyIlliterate]

Originally Posted by kermitology

Pretty touching song from Corb Lund

http://m.soundcloud.com/corblund/blood-sweat-water

Honestly, it was a much better song when he played it on the Coca Cola stage during Stampede.

It was rougher, louder, stronger, rawer, and not nearly as instrumental.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by GGG

For future Condo delvelopment I think you just need to design the parkades to flood and be okay and start the main floor x feet up.

That is already a requirement to build in the flood plain in Calgary.

[troutman]

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by GGG

This legislation needs to be done in a way that gives the people in affected area a choice of what they want to do going forward and make them whole now. This may allow us to get rid of a lot of hundred year old houses and replace them with modern floodproofed Condos and town houses with garages as the main floors.

Shoot me if that ever happens, specifically the garage part.

Also in the name of progress we demolish some of the oldest homes in the city to build new flood proof ones? How about we fix the infrastructure problem that caused the flooding and endeavour to keep some of our old buildings around instead?