Calgary flood was terrible, but it could have been worse

 

• 0
  inShare
• 

By Norman Leach (Originally appeared in the Beacon - Independent Local News)

Calgary flood highlights lack of disaster preparedness

By now the scenes are familiar. Calgary and surrounding communities hit by the worst floods in Alberta history. Turn on any television, open any newspaper or listen to the radio in southern Alberta and it was wall to wall coverage 24 hours a day.

I knew how serious things were, despite the fact the water was nowhere near our house, when my mother-in-law called from Mexico worried about the safety of her grandchildren. Apparently, according to Mexican television, all of Calgary was under water and the entire city was being evacuated. After calming her down, my wife and I had the opportunity to reflect on what might have been.

As it was, approximately 100,000 Calgarians were living in or near the flood zones. Calgary flood water had pretty much completely inundated the downtown core, with the most spectacular site being the Saddledome filled with 30 million gallons of water.

Yet for all of that, the vast majority slept soundly through the Calgary flood crisis. For anyone not immediately involved you would hardly have known there was a disaster going on all. 900,000 plus continued to be served by clean water, sewer, electricity, and fire and police. In fact, Mayor Naheed Nenshi seem to spend most of his time telling Calgarians just how normal things were. (Okay, the traffic was a little bad but only by Alberta standards.)

The Calgary flood serves as a reminder for everyone that it doesn’t hurt to be prepared for the worst. Photo: calgaryisawesome.com

On the second day of the Calgary flood I went to a grocery store on the west side of town. There, parked among the BMWs and Mercedes, it became clear not everyone was listening to the mayor. In the store, there was no bottled water left to purchase (again, despite the fact there was clean water available at the tap at the kitchen sink at home) and people were purchasing canned goods as though preparing for a zombie apocalypse.

What would it have been like if it had been a real crisis? Don’t get me wrong, for those who were directly affected it was a real disaster – but it was only a real disaster for 10 per cent of the population – at most.

As far as disasters go we are pretty protected here in Canada. Yes, we get blizzards but I have lived in both Tokyo and Mexico City where earthquakes are a daily way of life. My best friend lives in hurricane alley in the U.S. People all over the world live one day away from disaster – every day.
The response to the Calgary flood was fairly typical. City police, fire and ambulance were able to hold the line on services for about three days – exactly what is expected of them. The army took about three days to arrive on scene – exactly what was expected of them. People held off on full-out panicking, though did get some practice in. All in all it turned out pretty well.

However, what Calgary received was only a small sample of what could have happened. If 20 per cent or more of the population have been affected or if critical services have been lost, the outcomes, and the Mayor’s speeches, would have been very different.

The city will argue it is ready for all eventualities. However, when a CP Rail train derailed due to a bridge weakened by the Calgary flood, Mayor Nenshi publicly stated that the overtaxed first responders did not need yet another crisis.

My argument is that we might not be so lucky the next time around. There are simply not enough first responders to handle a major crisis in Calgary, or anywhere else in the country. It is time we looked at programs from around the world that actively engage citizens in their own protection.

I would suggest the first place to look at our neighbors to the South who have put in place the Community Emergency Reaction Team (CERT) program. CERT “educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations.” As far as I can tell there is no equivalent program operational in Canada – certainly not on a widespread basis.

Trained and prepared civilians – directed by professional first responders – will increase the chances of any community surviving a disaster. The next time round it might be the only thing that does.