Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Flood Warning

It's like the biblical plagues over here. First tornadoes, and now flooding. We've had six straight days of rain, and I'm not talking about the little dribbly kind, it's been pouring nonstop. The Bow and Elbow rivers (the two major rivers of Calgary) are have both already burst their banks, and are continuing to rise at an astonishing rate. They've cordoned off my section of Fish Creek (beside the Bow River), so I can't even get down there to take pictures. This is highly unusual for Calgary, a virtually desert city, but I guess it's not that unusual, provided that half the city is built on 100 year flood planes, and we've been 80 years overdue for a monumental flood.

I guess I'll be inflating the dinghy to get to work on Thursday.

As a side note, I've never seen such green grass in Calgary. There's already been predictions that when the sun comes out, the grass is going to overgrow like a weed, and will need mowing every three days to keep it managable. Now, I'm not one to believe that plant growth is directly proportional to rainfall, but it will be interesting to see what becomes of the former "Brown City."

4 comments:

apples said...

Oh great, you've finally got our rain. I always like it when there's 'much' weather, no matter what form, whether extreme heat or extreme cold, wind or flooding. I guess that's easy if you don't have anything to lose, sucks for the farmers though.

Geoff said...

I don't mind the rain and wind so much, but it seems to put everyone else in a foul mood. I don't get it. When the sun is out all the time, things dry up, and people get skin cancer. I have yet to see someone die from rainfall though, unless they were stupid enough to go rubberneck at the river's edge.

D. said...

I saw some footage of it all on the news. That is pretty insane stuff.

How far are you away from the actual river? (either of them)

That thing was flowing FAST.

Geoff said...

I live a 5 minute walk up a hill from the river. I'm in no particular danger, being on the top of a hill, but there's a neighborhood right beside mine that was built right on the floodplain.