The June flood was top of mind for Mayor Naheed Nenshi Saturday, as he addressed world leaders in Switzerland.
The mayor was at the World Economic Forum in Davos to talk about building resilience to natural disasters.
He sat on a panel of representatives from several countries, including Haiti and the Philippines.
Mayor Nenshi spoke about a diversion tunnel expected to cost the city millions of dollars; he said such costs are hard to justify when there are other projects that need funding – especially when such a tunnel would not be used unless there is another flood.
He also spoke about the city’s quick response to the floods.
“Certainly we’re not immune to the forces of nature, but we were ready in terms of our response,” Nenshi explained. “We evacuated 100,000 overnight. There was only one casualty within the city limits, which I still say is one too many. And we were able to get people back into their homes quite quickly.”
The June flood cost Calgary about $6-billion in damage to private and public infrastructure.
Mayor Nenshi’s trip to the world economic forum in Davos is expected to cost taxpayers about $6,000.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says it’s a reasonable cost for the benefit.
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