Smith, High River residents demand new zone mapping
Say data is antiquated and one-dimensional
Calls for the province to redraw its new flood zone maps grew louder Friday after a raucous information session in High River left hundreds of residents fuming, and the Official Opposition demanding a flood-mitigation plan within 60 days.
High River residents — many still angry and frustrated over insurance claim denials and poor communication from authorities — tore into provincial officials and blasted the government’s new floodway and flood-fringe maps at an information session Thursday evening.
“It doesn’t take a genius to look at the maps that they’re putting out there and see where the water actually flowed and say that there’s a mismatch,” said Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith. “They need mapping that people can have confidence in, which they don’t have right now.”
Last Sunday, the province announced a sweeping plan to ban future development in floodways — areas subject to the most destructive flows in so-called 100-year floods.
The province will allow — and pay for — the repair and rebuilding of damaged homes in floodways, but it will not pay for damages from future floods on refurbished homes in those zones.
In flood-fringe zones — the portion of hazard areas outside of the floodway — the government will pay for repairing or rebuilding homes affected by the recent disaster, but will require flood-proofing such as berms, water control infrastructure or raising the structure.
High River residents criticized the flood zone maps, saying the mapping is based on antiquated data and onedimensional modelling.
The province’s current flood map for High River appears to consider a rail track berm running through the town as a piece of flood mitigation infrastructure.
But swaths of that berm washed away in the June flood, allowing water to rush east into neighbourhoods that have never experienced flooding.
Shane Schreiber, director of the High River task force, said the province is “moving at unprecedented speed” with recovery efforts, but conceded officials need to better define its floodway and flood-fringe map for the “one in 100 year” flood.
“It’s clear that the locals don’t believe that map,” Schreiber said.
“We’re going to work within the joint water management team that we’ve got here with the town and the [Municipal District], their professionals, and take a look at what they’ve got, because we have to.”
In May, High River officials unveiled preliminary results of its Flood Management Master Plan. That plan included flood projections based on two-dimensional mapping technologies that allow for greater detail and analysis.
“I’ve seen them both and already there’s an exchange of data so we can make that guess better,” said Schreiber. “It’s hard to guess what the river is going to do. I would argue that any map is going to be wrong ... but some maps are better than others.”
Smith called on the province to create a new flood map and mitiga- tion plan within 60 days for floodstricken communities so residents know where they can rebuild their homes and businesses.
“They’re building their reconstruction plan around old data without indicating any obligation to do the community flood protection,” said Smith. “That’s why they’ve got it backwards.”