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puckstopshere · ‎06-24-2013

From his farmhouse overlooking the Bow River, George Groeneveld watched the water rise foot by foot over just a couple of hours, the rushing water snapping decades-old cottonwood trees like matches.

This was worse than he’d ever seen it, but he’d seen flooding before. In 2005, floodwaters swept through southern Alberta, killing three people and causing $165-million in damage. An MLA at the time, it was Mr. Groeneveld who led a provincial effort to produce a report with recommendations on what the province can do to better prepare for floods.

His 2006 report called on the province to, among other things, stop selling flood-plain land for development. But the report sat idle and was released only last year with nothing more than “minimal” flood-mitigation efforts from the province, he said.

Mr. Groeneveld doesn’t believe any reasonable preparation could have prepared Alberta for this month’s flood, but thinks his report’s recommendations remain relevant nonetheless.

“Dust that thing off, update it,” Mr. Groeneveld, a former Progressive Conservative MLA who left politics last year, said in an interview. “It’s going to take a lot of work to update it. The world’s changed since then, but I think the basics are still very much the same of what we found at that time.”

Mr. Groeneveld toured the flood-ravaged town of High River over the weekend with Premier Alison Redford, a former caucus colleague of his. He credits Ms. Redford, who became premier in late 2011, with finally releasing the report, and the two spoke about its recommendations.

Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths echoed that, saying it was the Redford government that finally released the report, and that the work is ongoing.

“In our initial analysis, pretty much all the recommendations had some work done. When you read the report, though, very few of the recommendations had a completion date or a completion target. It’s a continuous work in progress to do flood mapping and to do mitigation, but we’ve made progress in all the recommendations last year since we released the report,” Mr. Griffiths said at a news conference Monday in which the province pledged $1-billion in initial relief for flood cleanup.

Mr. Groeneveld’s report wasn’t the first flood study to sit in a drawer. Alberta prepared a draft flood mitigation strategy in 2002, but it remained a draft and was never published. Mr. Groeneveld’s committee reviewed it while preparing its report after flooding in 2005. “A substantial volume of material [from 2002] was still relevant,” Mr. Groeneveld’s report says. Alberta prepared a draft flood mitigation strategy in 2002, but it remained a draft and was never published. Mr. Groeneveld’s committee reviewed it while preparing its report after flooding in 2005. “A substantial volume of material [from 2002] was still relevant,” Mr. Groeneveld’s report says.

That report recommended Alberta stop selling Crown land in known flood risk areas, saying doing so “abdicates the responsibility to keeping Albertans safe to private landowners… selling lands in flood risk areas is the opposite of flood mitigation.”

Mr. Groeneveld says that’s still the most important recommendation.

“Stop building on the flood plains. Stop that. And to do that, the local municipalities have to have the support of the two bigger governments. They just have to,” he said, adding that the deed for any land that’s on a flood plain should make that clear.

The report also recommended creating a notification system to warn buyers of properties on flood plains – the information is available, but there’s no requirement for a landowner to provide it to a potential buyer, the 2006 report noted.

The report recommended the province complete a map of areas at risk of flooding. At the time of the report, there were 36 communities across the province that “require flood risk studies.”

Mr. Groeneveld’s farm wasn’t badly hit – it sits high above the river – but he recalls how quickly the water rose.

“Unfortunately, we could have done anything in High River [to prepare]. We wouldn’t have stopped this one,” he said, later adding: “I would call that a flash flood. How can a river that size rise that quickly? It’s just astonishing and mind-boggling.”

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he isn’t familiar with Mr. Groeneveld’s report but an “enormous” amount of quiet work by municipal staff has been done in recent years to shore up flood protection measures. He said a new berm in the Inglewood area on the Bow River helped save the neighbourhood.

“If we had the protections in place that we had only in 2005 today, the damage would have been much worse,” Mr. Nenshi said. “We have been working hard since then to do that. But that work needs to continue.”

Mr. Nenshi said people ask him why parts of the city are built on flood plains. “Because, when the city was founded, it was founded precisely because it was at the confluence of two rivers. That’s why the city is here.”

Dave Galea, a senior official with the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, said in a briefing Monday that the province is “currently shifting from response to recovery.” About 65,000 Calgary residents have returned to their homes, while 10,000 remain evacuated, he said. High River remains the focus of flood response, with 80 per cent of its homes without power and the wastewater treatment plant not running.

Across much of the flood-affected southern parts of the province, rain was forecast Monday but wasn’t expected to increase river levels.

“Things should start to improve as water levels recede…. The water levels, although they’re receding, are going to remain high for a number of days,” Mr. Galea said.

Premier Alison Redford was set to announce a “major step to rebuild Alberta” later on Monday, following a meeting of the provincial Treasury Board, which oversees spending.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/recommendations-from-2005-alberta-flood-still-relevant-...

puckstopshere · ‎06-24-2013

Government inaction on an important issue.

Here in London, we face a much smaller, but important issue.

The flood protection installed along the Thames is many decades old.

It needs significant repairs to insure that, when the next flood comes, we will be ready.

Looking at our current council - will this be another report shelved for years?

prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil · ‎06-24-2013

The problem is Alberta is such a poor Province. Probably there wasn't enough money to get the job done.

kam1812 · ‎06-25-2013

@prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil wrote:
The problem is Alberta is such a poor Province. Probably there wasn't enough money to get the job done.

An absolutely graceless & mean-spirited comment. Unsurprising considering the source.

prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil · ‎06-25-2013

It was a joke..........you didn't get the scarcasm. Stay away from comedy clubs, you'll never have a laugh.

You want serious? Ok............. It should never have been shelved. Alberta has money coming out of the wazzo, there's little excuse. There was always problems and indications of things to come and nothing was done......but as usual the average people pay for the decisions of the leaders........or lack of decisions. The same happened in New Orleans. All the insurance claims will cost these insurance companies big time and do you know who is going to make up for it over time.........everyone!........except those those job was to get things done and didn't!

kam1812 · ‎06-25-2013

A joke in very questionable taste. Oh - FYI...There is NO overland flood insurance available anywhere in Canada so the insurance companies are not on the hook...& neither are you.

prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil · ‎06-25-2013

Humour, like art, is all in the eyes or ears of the beholder. Many people thought George Carlin was verboden. Others thought Lenny Bruce was dispicable. Nonetheless they all spoke the truth, it's just that some people didn't want to hear it.

As for insurance........you can get a rider on anything. You pay for it........but you can get them. But be it insurance companies pay, or the taxpayer, it all gets added on the bill somewhere. Nothing is for Free.

bananatron · ‎06-25-2013

I like jokes. I've even learned to find puns hilarious. Anyway, I joked that the Saddledome will be hosting water polo. With horses.

prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil · ‎06-26-2013

That joke was of very questionable taste!

Just joking.

Back to serious........ So many people there have lost so much, some people everything. Some as well have lost things that are irreplaceable such as family photos and heirlooms. Maybe if the report had not been shelved for 6 years things might be a bit different.

kentworld · ‎06-26-2013

AFAIK you cannot get flood insurance here, and I was in the insurance biz for a number of years. You can get water back-up coverage though.

Albertans are a hard-working crowd and no doubt things will be tidied up enough for the Calgary Stampede. I think that kudos have to go to the mayor of Calgary who seems to be one effective politician -- maybe he'll move up the ladder someday?

Dunno how you can really prepare for huge disasters like this. But, the fact that people like to live near water means that you take a risk building on a possible flood plain.

prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil · ‎06-26-2013

Can't get flood insurance? Darn!

In Ontario it seems you can. A couple I know live in a home that was built on land later designated as flood plain. The home was grandfathered in because it was already there. If however it is ever destroyed for some reason, no new home can be built. They somehow did get flood insurance as a rider on their policy.

puckstopshere · ‎06-26-2013

Am I covered for water damage?

If you have Extended Water Coverage as part of your home policy, you’re covered for some types of sewer backups, which are one of the main causes of water damage during major storms. To protect your home against water damage, keep your property well drained, maintain the weeping tiles and clear eavestroughs regularly. Contact your financial advisor for more information about coverage for water damage.

Do I have flood insurance?

The simple answer to this is no. Flood insurance, as most would define a natural disaster flood, does not exist in Canada.

A flood, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, is defined as water flowing overland and seeping in through windows, doors and cracks. While you can purchase extended water damage coverage with our home policies, which covers things like a sump pump backup, flood insurance is not available with any Canadian insurance company.

http://www.cooperators.ca/en/Answer-Centre/am-i-covered/home-covered/water-damage.aspx

nuvistors · ‎06-26-2013

@prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil wrote:
The problem is Alberta is such a poor Province. Probably there wasn't enough money to get the job done.

I believe Alberta had a fund for this until Trudeau took it away.

pierrelebel · ‎06-26-2013

It is one thing to be an ultra right wing conservative partisan, it is something else to be stupid and twist history.

Trudeau left power in 1984 (replaced by Turner for a few months then Mulroney).

In 1987, the value of Alberta’s Heritage Savings and Trust Fund stood at $12.7 billion. That year, the province faced a massive budget deficit and transfers to the fund from resource revenues were suspended. Such deposits did not resume again until almost two decades later and only lasted two years before being suspended again.

For more; http://www.troymedia.com/2013/03/06/albertas-heritage-fund-an-abject-failure/

prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil · ‎06-26-2013

flood insurance is not available with any Canadian insurance company.

Well, I guess I was lied to.

stevephinn2012 · ‎06-26-2013

please do not brings FACTS into this! if he says you can get insurance for it you can. It does not matter if you have been doing this your whole life. He knows more than you and you are wrong!

"acts of god" as they are refered to in EVERY policy known to man have always been covered and always will be!

prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil · ‎06-26-2013

I just need an address.

kam1812 · ‎06-26-2013

That's the Deacon...Often wrong but NEVER uncertain.

prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil · ‎06-26-2013

Well it's nice to see all the 'perfect' people in here.

I said it was told to me by someone else. So.............I called my insurance agent today, who I have dealt with for about 31 years. I was told she had never heard of 'flood' insurance in the respect of a river overflowing .........but........she said it is possible so I should call the Insurance Bureau of Canada. I tried them but all I got was answer machines and leave a name and number and they will get back to me. Very unsatisfying, like dealing with Internet trolls. Real life, talking to someone is far more efficient.

So I decided to call the people I know who said they had flood insurance. I spoke to the wife who said they did because of their location, but I explained what I had been told in more detail. She asked her husband who I heard in the background say that yes they did have flood insurance. I told them to check their policy and get back to me. About 1/2 an hour later he calls me back and it turns out they do not have insurance if the water is above ground, not based on the policy (you know....all the fine print). However he said when he took the policy out he specifically asked for that kind of insurance and the agent said he had it. It was one of the deciding points of buying the home. My 'friend' is not a happy man and I wouldn't want to be that agent tomorrow morning......not by a long shot. Of course it wouldn't be the first time that a money hungry insurance agent told someone something.....or omitted telling something.......in order to close the deal and then just hope nothing happens. The same happened to me in another insurance area about 20 years ago.

So based on the information it seems that no, you can't get flood insurance in Canada. To all those who drool at the thought of proving me wrong....keep in mind that I was only repeating what was told to me, by two people who seem to have been slightly mislead by an agent. When I am wrong, I've admitted it. Others when proven wrong, just disappear and there is never any admitting.