Well this was supposed to be a race weekend. Rundle's Revenge was my DNF (Did Not Finish) race last year; the mud just cost me too much energy and I couldn't start the last lap. A 50k race done after 37.5k. I wanted to finish some business this year and was really hoping for a dry sunny race. After racing the Mud'er5er and hearing about the mudfest that was the Organ Grinder this season so far, I figured the odds were looking good for a dry race.
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| Across the river from where we walk |
Very quickly on Thursday it became evident that racing in Canmore was a frivolous idea. The town was under seige by Mother Nature; the carnage of her attack filling Facebook and television screens with unimaginable images. Houses teetering on banks that had been 150 feet away the day before, bridges and highways disappearing, water absolutely raging. Water. It's just water right? I heard 30 days worth of June rain fell in 24 hours. The cloud creating the rain just stalled over our Rockies and powered itself in a continuous cycle. And the rage it created in the rivers was heading east, towards Calgary.
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| Everyone wants a look |
I saw the first evacuation notices on the internet from the office mid afternoon Thursday. Nothing near my house. It was the usual spots along the Elbow. Spots that have flooded before. Still, I was glad to head home and see for myself that Sante and the house were dry. The sump pump hole was full but a jiggle got the float moving and it cycled the water out. All good. Not long after that though more evac notices were happening very quickly. Bowness was one. Right across the river from me. The sirens were in a steady stream over the bridge and the police choppers were buzzing and you could hear them yelling to people through the loudspeaker to get out, now. Then they were over my house too ... I packed a bag, packed some dog food, kept watching the news.
The choppers and sirens went quiet, and no knock on the door came. The news was reporting that police would be on the street going door to door in all evacuated communities, including mine, Montgomery. I talked to my brother Doug on the phone, chatted through my options and the potential consequences of staying. I walked to the river to have a look for myself, and I chatted with my neighbours. They were staying put. We swapped numbers and said we'd inform each other if we chose to leave. It seemed most folks weren't moving. So I stayed. Ian next door sent me a link to the city evac maps and we were just outside the zone. It was a long night. I woke up a few times to look outside, half expecting to see water filling the street. There was lots of it, but from the torrential rain. I checked the sump pump often, but it never had to run again. No cops came knocking.
I felt informed the whole time, and I felt confident that the city officials were doing a fantastic job managing this emergency. Between Twitter, Global News, and regular walks with Sante to see the river with my own eyes (with hundreds of other people), I felt informed and safe.
It's so surreal. You can't even believe it to see it live. It seemed impossible that the flood could reach us. In the end it didn't but 3 blocks south and a couple west were not as lucky. South folks had power cut. To the west backyards have disappeared into the river. The banks are gone and our beautiful pathways are gone. The footage now that the water has receded is almost as disturbing. More is revealed almost hourly now as the water moves.
Beautiful Canmore -- treasured by any outdoor-loving Calgarian -- is a war zone. I'm riding in a Fondo there next week. All proceeds going to rebuilding. There'll be a lot of volunteering to do there, here in Calgary, and, in time ... on our mountain bike trails.
I feel very grateful for all my friends who offered their homes to Sante and I and all my friends and family across the continent reaching out to see if I was safe. But I'm also grateful I was able to stay home with my pup and not be displaced and filled with more worry.
This city is remarkable. I felt utterly informed and looked-after by city officials. They did an awesome job from the get-go. Truly. Social media was used strategically and effectively and the local media did a top notch job. The Calgary police Twitter account hit its limit for number of allowable tweets Friday and were taken down. In short order a constable was assigned to take over from his account and word spread immediately where we could get updates. Then Twitter Canada got the main account up again fast.
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| Taped off today. Banks going... |
The city website crashed and immediately officials were using Twitter to report where to find the backup site. Nenshi was posting on Twitter throughout. What a mayor!
I still finding it remarkable that Internet and cellular service never failed. Anyway, this is just my account, the stories coming out of this disaster will reveal so much heart ache but so much resilience too. The landscape is forever going to be changed, but even more so after these last few days, this city is a great place to call home.
Stay strong Calgary!
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