Alberta Flood Watch 2013

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Dion

How is river water toxic?

Most of the rivers involved in the flooding tested positive for e-coli etc.

You live in a rural community Dion. It is not hard to fathom what the river picked up along its way.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by redforever

Most of the rivers involved in the flooding tested positive for e-coli etc.

You live in a rural community Dion. It is not hard to fathom what the river picked up along its way.

That doesn't explain why homeowners were not made aware. I spent yesterday crawling under my deck cleaning stuff out so I guess i'm going to get sick.

[Canada 02]

OVER HALF A MILLION DOLLARS RAISED FOR ALBERTA FLOOD RELIEF


THANK YOU to EVERYONE who supported the benefit show at the Enmax Centrium in Red Deer last week! As well as a special thanks to our partners for this concert – Live Nation Canada, Ticketmaster, and the Enmax Centrium venue who generously donated time, goods and services so that we could raise the most amount of money possible for this worthy cause.
We are happy to announce the final amount is $575,000 and it will all be donated for Alberta Flood Relief!

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Dion

How is river water toxic?

My lawn was covered with the same water and no one has said it has to be removed.

There was raw sewage, animal carcasses and who knows what else in all that silt. I do hope that you don't get sick, but in all honesty there is a good reason that people volunteering to help in High River have had to wear good masks and take a lot of precautions. A couple of women I know who have been volunteering have both been sick, likely as a result (of course we'd never know for sure).

[kevman]

Oh man could the government do a worse job on rolling out information?

The whole uncertainty of everything is really making moving on and rebuilding difficult. I don't mind rebuilding with flood mitigation in place but their requests seem rather silly. When did the flood mitigation plans shift from steps to protect your property (grading, waterproofing, etc.) to expensive renovations that will still require clean up and demolition following a flood? Like Bownesian I'm starting to wonder if it's time to accept the property value hit and move on.

A main floor electrical panel seems ridiculous in my situation. By the time my panel is underwater (raised bungalow, west end of Sunnyside) so is 10th street and Hillhurst. These are communities not in the flood fringe and it would take a much larger event to flood to that scale. That's a risk I'd be willing to take but in order to protect against a few inches and to protect my title I need to protect for 8 ft. !? Why single out just the panel? At that point why not a main floor furnace and hot water tank?

Having just re-wired the house 2 years ago I know the 15% on top of the $10,000 I may get will not even begin to cover things. The most frustrating part is in my case everything could have been prevented with a little infrastructure upgrade...

[Bownesian]

The clock is really ticking. I can't have my basement in its current condition (i.e. uninsulated with no vapour barrier) for more than a couple more months, so these regulations have to be finalized quickly.

[Bownesian]

As for the river water and mud being "toxic" that's only part true.

There was and is harmful bacteria in the soil, but there is always harmful bacteria in soil, specifically the bacterium that causes Tetanus. There would have been e. coli in the soil but it doesn't live in dry soil for long so once it dries out and especially once the winter comes and goes, the threat from the soil contamination will plummet back to the same baseline threat that's always present in normal soil.

People have fertilized their fields with e. coli since the dawn of agriculture and live in houses surrounded by those fields.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

I am sure that they didn't pull out the grass/top soil for ***** and giggles. It seems like an odd thing to get overly worked up over.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

I am sure that they didn't pull out the grass/top soil for ***** and giggles. It seems like an odd thing to get overly worked up over.

If it was toxic, then they should have said something to everyone. Although, as Slava mentioned, its not like it was a secret what was in the water, its really just common sense.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

I am sure that they didn't pull out the grass/top soil for ***** and giggles. It seems like an odd thing to get overly worked up over.

The lack of information and not being told what is going to be done is what gets residents all worked up. Communication from the town and province has not been good throughout the flood recovery process. It's rather sad when you have to ask your MLA to the answers you need.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Slava

There was raw sewage, animal carcasses and who knows what else in all that silt. I do hope that you don't get sick, but in all honesty there is a good reason that people volunteering to help in High River have had to wear good masks and take a lot of precautions. A couple of women I know who have been volunteering have both been sick, likely as a result (of course we'd never know for sure).

The comment about me getting sick was sarcasm. I've been cleaning up the yard and all the silt for the past few weeks and haven't got sick. The workers cleaning up the greenspace were not wearing masks to protect themselves from any possible toxic dust particles in the air. Besides after the 2005 flood they weren't digging up and replacing greenspaces.

I used masks and protective clothing when I was cleaning out the basement.

[chemgear]

Even the masks being handed out and used may not have been enough - CBC had this up the other night:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...-mask-hth.html

Not sure if that applies as much for the outdoors.

[chemgear]

Well, this is sure to fire up some readers/comments on their website.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/comme...ticle13461404/


Flooded High River should be rebuilt, not relocated

Shock has given way to anger – not the best mood for the billion-dollar decisions that Alberta is facing in High River. Should every damaged house be razed and rebuilt at public expense? Should the saturated town centre be relocated to farmland away from the river? Or should the entire town be moved? And if High River stays, how much flood prevention will be needed to keep the town safe?

While High River has been flooded before – it’s named that for a reason – the destruction this time is like never before. The surge was so great that a spillway built after a previous disaster overflowed and 600 people had to be airlifted out. Emergency responders were impressed that only three lives were lost and that no looting or serious crime occurred.

The culture of southern Alberta does not lend itself to any form of state coercion. At the height of the floods, hundreds of residents refused to leave High River. Many rose up against an RCMP effort to confiscate weapons from abandoned houses (hundreds more co-operated). If the province has any serious thoughts about moving the town, it would have to think doubly hard about the free spirits it would need to confront. As a popular saying in the town now goes: “100 years to build the town, two days to destroy it and 10 days to get it back on its feet.”

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Just got a letter from TD Insurance "telling" me about revisions to my home insurance water coverage. Of course, they tell me no details in said letter, but that new policies will be mailed shortly. Think the changes are going to be good?

Coupled with the call from them asking if I had received my new policy yet...sounds like it's going to be time to tell TD to FO pretty soon. While in Hillhurst I'm far away from the flood affected areas.

What the consensus for best insurance service post flood? Co-operators? State Farm? Willing to pay a bit more than TD Meloche. Are other insurance companies pulling water related coverage too?

[Dion]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Just got a letter from TD Insurance "telling" me about revisions to my home insurance water coverage. Of course, they tell me no details in said letter, but that new policies will be mailed shortly. Think the changes are going to be good?

Coupled with the call from them asking if I had received my new policy yet...sounds like it's going to be time to tell TD to FO pretty soon. While in Hillhurst I'm far away from the flood affected areas.

What the consensus for best insurance service post flood? Co-operators? State Farm? Willing to pay a bit more than TD Meloche. Are other insurance companies pulling water related coverage too?

A neighbour had the sewer backup coverage of their policy reduced to $15,000 from $100,000

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Just got a letter from TD Insurance "telling" me about revisions to my home insurance water coverage. Of course, they tell me no details in said letter, but that new policies will be mailed shortly. Think the changes are going to be good?

Coupled with the call from them asking if I had received my new policy yet...sounds like it's going to be time to tell TD to FO pretty soon. While in Hillhurst I'm far away from the flood affected areas.

What the consensus for best insurance service post flood? Co-operators? State Farm? Willing to pay a bit more than TD Meloche. Are other insurance companies pulling water related coverage too?

Everyone's policy is going down to $15K from $100K. Oh and you deductible is probably now going up to $1000. At least everyone on my street got that.

It doesn't kick in until next year is what we were told.

Honestly I would advise shopping around. It is free and can't hurt.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

Everyone's policy is going down to $15K from $100K. Oh and you deductible is probably now going up to $1000. At least everyone on my street got that.

It doesn't kick in until next year is what we were told.

Honestly I would advise shopping around. It is free and can't hurt.

There is a good chance that all insurers might take the same approach for people with that postal code.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

There is a good chance that all insurers might take the same approach for people with that postal code.

Ya, we figure that too. We haven't looked around but will try very soon. Worst case is we get a bunch of rejection letters, but for Hulse he maybe ok.

[Flames in 07]

For those looking at the new mitigation rules:

All the content is about the floor, ceilings and walls. What if you already have untreated lumber as your staircase? Surely Alberta doesn't want that replaced? The scope is specific, and doesn't include stairs, yet its is specific in that it says no untreated lumber.

Also, if you don't have carpet on the stairs aren't they just shifting expenses from flood remediation to health care when people start splitting their heads on concrete or tiled stairs?

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

For those looking at the new mitigation rules:

All the content is about the floor, ceilings and walls. What if you already have untreated lumber as your staircase? Surely Alberta doesn't want that replaced? The scope is specific, and doesn't include stairs, yet its is specific in that it says no untreated lumber.

Also, if you don't have carpet on the stairs aren't they just shifting expenses from flood remediation to health care when people start splitting their heads on concrete or tiled stairs?

Note that it also does not include ceilings. Those can be whatever under new rules too. I was joking with a city inspector (who says off the record that the city thinks these new rules are poorly thought out, ineffective, and stupid) that I am going to carpet my ceiling just to spite them. Then I realized I'd have to live with a carpet ceiling.

Anyways, I am willing to bet that they either have not thought of that in their haste, or have and intentionally left that out for some reason. The rules are just really strange and do little to benefit the taxpayer or homeowner.

On that injury front, that one I doubt they have thought of or care about. It is all PR for the rest of Alberta who did not flood appear they are on top of things. As usual it is working as I have yet to see any negative media on these mitigation rules.