Premier Hancock and Calgary mayor provide flood recovery update

CALGARY – Officials say there are 50 flood recovery and mitigation projects underway or completed in Calgary.

Premier Dave Hancock and Mayor Naheed Nenshi joined Environment Minister Robin Campbell to make the announcement during a news conference on Tuesday morning.

They say to date, more than $200 million from the Flood Recovery Erosion Control program has been invested in communities across the province, including $52.1 million in Calgary.

“Calgary was hit hard in last June’s flooding and we need to make sure as many precautions as possible have been taken to prepare for the future,” says Hancock.

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“Calgarians can be assured that these projects will add a further level of protection for their communities, homes and places of business,” Hancock added.

BELOW: Premier Hancock took a helicopter tour to see the work being done to repair damages in some of the area’s hardest hit by the June 2013 floods.

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Hancock says the province is making progress on larger, structural flood mitigation projects including a Highwood Diversion, an off-stream storage site at Springbank, as well as upgrades to a number of dams and water management structures.

“Our flood mitigation programs were designed to be flexible to meet the needs in each community,” says Campbell. “In Calgary, this means focusing on reinforcing community level mitigation that will complement the larger projects happening upstream.”

Flooding in southern Alberta in 2013 forced more than 100,000 people from their homes, and destroyed an estimated 14,000 properties.

More than $600 million has been committed to fund high-priority flood recovery and mitigation projects and to improve the province’s flood resiliency.