CALGARY- Could the great flood happen again?
That’s what experts are trying to determine, in light of June’s destructive flooding that forced the evacuation of 100,000 people from their homes.
Calgary is no stranger to floods, facing a bad one in June 1929 and again in 2005. But the 2013 flood is now considered the worst in Alberta’s history.
New models now have to be developed in hopes of predicting another disaster, and it’s feared such massive floods are no longer a once-in-a-lifetime event.
“We doubled in 2013 what we had in 2005 in terms of peak flow rate along the Elbow River, so there is a possibility out there in terms of this reoccurring more often,” explains Dr. Chris Hugenholtz from the University of Calgary. “The magnitude is what we can’t predict.”
A map from Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development highlights areas considered to be a floodway—which include communities like Roxboro and Rideau.
The province is still discussing policy details in terms of compensation and whether or not to allow flood victims to rebuild in badly hit areas.
Those details are expected to be released by the end of the month.
The government has already committed more than $1 billion to flood compensation, and it’s expected that the final bill could hit $3 billion.
Comments