Calgary Herald

City to get $1 million for emergency flooding equipment

- ANNA JUNKER ajunker@postmedia.com On Twitter: @JunkerAnna

HIGH RIVER The city is receiving $1 million from the province to help purchase emergency disaster equipment.

The $1 million is part of $2 million allocated for short-term floodpreve­ntion equipment, supplies and mitigation efforts in communitie­s along river basins.

“Overall the qualifying communitie­s are getting an immediate boost, totalling more than $2 million for things like portable dams, water tubes and pumps,” said MLA Deborah Drever.

“The communitie­s were chosen based on highest flood risk.”

The city’s funding will help acquire high volume water pumps and temporary flood barriers that “require less time and resources to build, allowing the city to act quickly in the event of a flood threat.”

Tom Sampson, chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, said the Alberta Emergency Management Agency caused them to think differentl­y about redistribu­ting staff as well, in order to further mitigation efforts.

“If you look at Calgary, if we have to build a berm that normally takes probably 36 hours, we know that a combinatio­n of the resources that we’ve got and the way that we’re staffing, those same berms could be built in 12 hours,” said Sampson.

Twelve communitie­s in the province will receive the rest of the $2 million funding that will assist their flood readiness.

The Municipal District of Foothills, for example, will use some of its funding to purchase a drone that will given them a “bird’s eye view” of their region in the event of a flood. The announceme­nt coincides with public works members who gathered together in High River for a flood readiness orientatio­n.

Over Sunday and Monday, they tried out the equipment that would be deployed during an emergency.

Despite the large snowpack this winter, Scott Long with the Alberta Emergency Management Agency said the risk of flooding is greatly reduced at this time, but they are always prepared.

“If you asked me this back in April, there was considerab­le concern over a rather large snowpack in the mountains, the largest one we’ve seen in quite some time,” said Long.

“May it was generally very hot, we had some great weather, very little rain. That has continued to shrink the snowpack which was the largest risk to river rain flooding.”

This funding announceme­nt is part of the $10 million the province recently announced this year that would help communitie­s be better prepared for a flood event.

The larger $10 million investment also includes $3 million worth of equipment to its stockpile located in High River.

This equipment includes rapid deployment trailers, portable dams, sandbag fillers and pumps.

It is available for whenever municipali­ties need it.

“What’s left of the $10 million boost will be held in reserve to help communitie­s prepare (for) large scale emergencie­s mitigation if a flood event appears imminent in a season,” said Drever.

Overall the qualifying communitie­s are getting an immediate boost, totalling more than $2 million ...

 ?? GAVIN YOUNG ?? Emergency managers and public works profession­als get a demonstrat­ion of a Tiger Dam at a flood readiness orientatio­n Monday at the High River Rodeo Grounds.
GAVIN YOUNG Emergency managers and public works profession­als get a demonstrat­ion of a Tiger Dam at a flood readiness orientatio­n Monday at the High River Rodeo Grounds.

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