Saturday, June 22, 2013

Wild and Wet

It's been a wild and wet week in Alberta.  A combination of a long winter, lots of snow, a heavy snowcap in the mountains, and extraordinary amounts of rain in a small amount of time have caused flooding in much of the province...the worse anyone has ever seen in what used to be a dry sunny province.  It happened so quickly and without much warning that towns and cities were caught by surprise.


I didn't get any pictures but the news is full of them.  Calgary seemed to be the hardest hit with a large portion of this large city flooded...many neighbourhoods under mandatory evacuation notice.  Small towns for miles around suffered huge flood losses.  In Canmore, near Banff, whole sections of the main highway were washed away along with a number of houses.


In Lethbridge, where we were all week, we had lots of rain, hail, thunder storms and more rain, but the city is largely protected from the rising floodwaters by the coolees - steep high banks that separate the city from the river.  Luckily our house remained watertight.


We drove back to Edmonton (500 kilometers north) yesterday.  Following our usual route, we were forced to detour through Calgary as two of the bridges we needed to cross were under water.  There was evidence of flooding wherever we went.  In Calgary itself, the highway that fast tracks traffic through the city was closed and flooded in the southbound lane, but luckily for us, the northbound was still open and dry, although in places the water was right up to the shoulders of the road.

I haven't heard any counts of damage costs but it'll be in the millions.  There have been no reports of loss of life yet either, thank goodness.

Just when we think we're safe in our lives and homes, Mother Nature decides to remind us that we are merely passengers on this planet and not as nearly in control as we'd like to think.

7 comments:

MIckey said...

It has been a little overwhelming hasn't it? I do believe there have been several deaths in High River. Everyone seems to say they have never seen anything like it. I find it very sad especially when they say there will be no insurance coverage.
I sure was worried about you late last night when you were travelling close to the affected areas as you were coming home.

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

Glad you and your home are ok. Nature is full of surprises. I learned a long time ago that there is not much at all we can control. Hope the rains stop soon for you and will be praying for all those affected by the flooding.

RoeH said...

Wow!! The power of water just amazes me. There's no way to beat it. I would have been too chicken to drive through that water but she probably had no other choice it looked like. Glad you are safe.

Mickey said...

Huh? I wrote and posted a comment yesterday! Guess my comments were not approved! :)
Hasn't it been a week in Alberta and guess it's not over yet!
Everyone seems to say. It's so bad "I've never seen anything like this before".
I was sure worried about you two the other night when you were travelling right through the worst area! It was fun texting back and forth.

Pat MacKenzie said...

I've been having trouble with 'anonymous' comments lately, usually gibberish but wanting me to follow their blogs, porn, etc. For that reason I've had to start moderating comments - they come to my email first and I have the option to publish, delete or mark as spam. If your comment is late appearing, it's because I haven't checked my email. Sorry, but the weird and ignorant comments were getting out of hand and this is the best way I could find to block them.

Mickey said...

no problem! I thought I had done something wrong!
Just heard that .....who worked at scrap a lot and had moved to High River lost all her Scrapbooking albums and photos and absolutely everything else. Can't imagine! they moved there a few months ago! Her husband worked in Calgary.

doodles n daydreams said...

We have had a big weather bomb here too during the past week, first rain and then snow, affecting the whole country. Luckily it hasn't affected us much but I feel for people in other parts of the country.
I'm pleased to hear you haven't been caught up in any of the things happening in your province either.

Diana