Thursday, June 20, 2013

Calgary Flood 2013 - Day 1

Calgary Flood 2013 -20 by Wanderfull1
Calgary Flood 2013 -20, a photo by Wanderfull1 on Flickr.
Thursday, June 20, 2013 a state of emergency was called by Mayor Nenshi when flood conditions were showing to be potentially worse than the 2005 flood. Several river level communities are being evacuated.  This is what I saw from the wooden stairs by Centre Street Bridge.  This was the east side of Prince's Island Park.

Tonight I was supposed to shoot some Sled Island photos at the National Music Centre.  Didn't happen.  It was shut down due to the flood.  On the way home I thought I'd head to Inglewood to shoot river shots from there.  I was on my cell describing to a friend what I saw from Centre Street when, near the King Eddy Hotel, a young woman handed me an evacuation notice.  When I told her I had to cross Centre Street Bridge to get home she said that I walked through downtown at my own risk.

I decided to head home.

On the way, I saw little geysers starting to erupt along Macleod Trail, next to the condos by the river.  There were several photographers along the river banks by Centre Street Bridge. Some actually went on the lower deck of the bridge, even though it was taped off by police, to get a close up shot of the dirty river water.  Maybe to catch some debris.  I don't know.  People had to see, though.  Many were acting like this was a special event; standing beneath their umbrellas, watching the river quickly rise.

The streets near the Emergency Call Centre were lined with cars.  I assumed they had called everyone in to work tonight.

The latest news reports say that downtown might still be closed off tomorrow with one of the worst areas being 6th Avenue and 1st Street.  They're saying if you don't have to be downtown tomorrow, don't come.  The kids next door had today off, because of the flood.  There was a message on my answering machine not to come to work tomorrow if I live in one of the evacuation areas.  I don't know if they realized that the Library is in one of those evacuation zones.

As exciting as all this is, I really feel for the people close to the river and in the downtown area who have to pack up their stuff and find somewhere to go tonight.


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