High water levels under the 14th Street bridge

Earlier today I was perusing this and that at MEC when a friend texted me: “Are you affected by the flooding?” This was the first time I had heard about a flood, but it certainly would not be the last. I took to Twitter and had no idea that parts of Calgary were being evacuated due to rising water levels near the Elbow River. Six communities to start, including Mission. I called a few friends right away who lived in Mission. They also didn’t know. It turns out they would have to gather some things from home and get ready to leave their apartment for 72 hours.

In the many hours to come, I would learn much more about this impending disaster. At first, I wondered how serious it could really be. But then I learned that the situation was definitely more dire.  A state of emergency was declared for many areas. Areas like High River, Black Diamond, and Bragg Creek had been hit quite hard, with ridiculous amounts of flooding and loss of homes. Cougar Creek in Canmore had dangerously high levels and destroyed homes as well. The TransCanada Highway was closed both east and west of Banff and residents and visitors of Banff were told they should stay put. The highway collapsed outside of Canmore. Videos and photos of those areas show quite a bit of damage, and it’s difficult to believe that rain and melting snow could do this in Alberta. The water levels continued to rise in Calgary. One by one, communities were ordered to evacuate.

After what seemed like hours of watching videos and reading Twitter feeds, I decided to go take a look myself. I headed down to Edworthy Park to take photos of the Bow River. I was not the only one. People were parking and getting out of their cars to look at the super high water levels. It’s very odd to see; on a normal day, there are mini islands in the Bow River and the banks of the river are quite high. Today, they were all non-existent and completely flooded. I then headed to a vantage point overlooking Bowness, which was being evacuated. I scoured the city for other views: the stairs above Sunnyside; the 14th street overpass; and eventually, Memorial Drive and 10th street in Kensington. This is where I saw the craziest flooding of the night. The water had risen over the banks and were spilling onto the paths. Crazy! Apparently the water levels will be up to 3 times as much as the flood in 2005 when all is said and done. Though I wasn’t here in 2005, it sounds like it was bad.

I now find myself at 3 am refreshing Twitter and continuing to read what many Calgarians are saying and showing about this flood. There have been many photos from Bowness, Mission, Memorial Drive, Discovery Ridge, and many other locations. As of now, 25 communities have been evacuated. Travel to the downtown has been discouraged. Transit has been disrupted. Bridges have been closed. The rain is expected to continue.

What I have found absolutely incredible about this situation is not the sheer force of the water, or how quickly the floods are rising, or how much rain continues to fall. I have been amazed by and proud of the people of Calgary. There has been an outpouring of support about how to help with clean-up efforts; Calgary Police (@CalgaryPolice) and the City of Calgary (@cityofcalgary), whose efforts throughout the day and night have been ridiculously impressive, have had to turn away volunteers because there have been just too many offerings; and the community has offered up their homes through kijiji or #yychelps on Twitter to anyone who needs a place to stay for the next few nights. Mayor Nenshi (@nenshi) cut his trip to Toronto, flew back, and an hour ago (2 am) he was touring around the flooded areas of Calgary with John Mar (@aldjohnmar) and Richard Pootmans (@pootmans). At this moment, I believe they’re investigating the dam at Glenmore. All of the folks involved have worked tirelessly to keep Calgarians informed and up to date. Information has travelled at light speed and Calgarians have evacuated safely as a result. The mayor and his staff have been amazing, and I have been so impressed with and thankful for their efforts and work. The generosity of Calgarians has been outstanding and incredibly moving to say the least. It’ll be interesting to see what I wake up to tomorrow. But today, I’ve realized once again how much I love this city.

The Bow River at Edworthy Park

Looking over to Bowness, one of the communities evacuated

Protecting Sunnyside

Flooding over path in Kensington

Woah. Flooding in Kensington

Looking toward Bowness

Along the bike path on Memorial Drive

Looking toward the Stampede Grounds

Debris. Lots of debris.