I wouldn't be surprised if it floods again either. It has happened before. Here's a list:scm wrote:It's quite simple really, warming air holds more water vapour. So more precipitation as snow and rain. I wouldn't be surprized if Calgary floods again. Better to rebuild on high ground than repairing the damage.
1897 Jun Bow River rises about five metres turning downtown into a lake, washing out bridges, short-circuiting electricity and cutting Canadian Pacific's line to Vancouver.
1915 Jun The Bow washes away Centre Street Bridge, nearly drowning two city officials. Sheep Creek floods Okotoks and cuts gas mains, leaving Calgarians without cooking fuel.
1923 Jun The Elbow River breaks the 1915 record by 20 centimetres when it rises to 2.9 metres. The Bow River, though it rises 1.5 metres above normal, is still about .6 metres under the 1915 record height
1929 Jun Bow, Elbow and Highwood rivers overflow to submerge High River as well as southwest and northwest city districts under a metre of muddy water. It takes a heavy toll on zoo animals.
1932 Jun On June 1, 1932, Calgary receives 79.2 mm over a 24-hour period, just .6 mm less than the average rainfall for the whole month. The empty reservoir of the recently completed Glenmore Dam prevents major damage.
1937 Feb Ice jams cause the Bow River to flood, dousing heating plants and forcing families to scramble for their lives in -20C temperatures.
1942 Jan Backed up by an ice jam, the Bow River overflows into Sunnyside.
1942 May High River lies under two metres of water after rains swell the Highwood River, forcing evacuation of homes.
1945 Nov Frigid water inundates the Hillhurst area due to ice jams, prompting an investigation of flood control improvements.
1946 Nov Zookeepers evacuate animals from St. George's Island to escape a flood caused by ice jams.
1947 Mar Rapid thaw of heavy spring snow swells rivers, soaks Hillhurst and Sunnyside.
1948 Jan Ice jams send frigid water from the Bow spilling over into Chinatown and Sunnyside.
1950 Dec Nearly 3,000 residents are forced to abandon their houses, apartments and hotel rooms in -30C degree temperatures when ice jams the Bow.
1990 Aug Freak, "one-in-50-years" rainstorms hit twice in two nights in the northwest districts of Dalhousie, Charleswood and Brentwood, flooding basements and marooning cars.
1995 Jun An estimated 500 people from Calgary to the U.S. border are evacuated. Waterton Lakes National Park closes and all tourists are evacuated. In Calgary, two pedestrian bridges are washed away as is the warning boom above the weir. The Lethbridge sewage treatment plant is flooded, dumping raw sewage into the Oldman River, which is flowing as much as 100 times its normal amount.
2005 Jun Three floods swamp basements, mangle bridges and tear apart roads, pathways and parks. In their wake, four lives are lost. Rain-swollen rivers burst their banks, flooding numerous southern Alberta towns and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate. In Calgary, one in 10 homes reported damage and 14 municipalities were forced to declare states of emergency. Rainfall for the month in Calgary measured 247.6 mm, more than three times the normal of 79.8 mm.
2013 Jun
It'll happen again. What IS statistically significant is that of the seventeen events listed, eight are in June.
