COMMUNITY-ORIENTED DISASTER PREPAREDNESS STRATEGY

Tuesday April 22, 2014

FOR A BETTER CALGARY

CHRIST CHURCH HALL3602 8TH STREET SWCALGARY ALBERTA

SUNNYSIDE CONCERNED CITIZENS GROUP

*MICHAEL BRADFIELD

A DIALOUGE WITH CALGARY RESIDENTS EFFECTED BY THE 2013 FLOOD

A BETTER CALGARY

*JAMES MAXIM

PRESENTERS:

*OUTLINE

*BACKGROUND

*ISSUES

*PROPERTY PROTECTION PLAN

*SUNNYSIDE COMMUNITY DISASTER PREPAREDNESS STRATEGY

*FLOOD MITIGATION EQUIPMENT

*RIDEAU-ROXBORO HYDROLOGY STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

*STRATEGY—WORK PLAN

*FINANCIAL COSTS AND BENEFITS

*CALL TO ACTION

*RECOMMENDATIONS

*BACKGROUND

*The City of Calgary and communities on both the Elbow River and Bow River suffered millions of dollars of damage

*Resulting in the worst Canadian natural disaster in our history

*$ 6 billion dollars of damage

*The City of Calgary announced a flood mitigation plan on Wednesday April 9, 2014.

*The City of Calgary’s plan is “NO PLAN” for the 26 communities flooded in 2013

*The primary flood mitigation plans for upstream will continue to be planned and debated for the next five years (or more)

*Our City must develop and implement community-oriented emergency preparedness projects for future flood protection “for a better Calgary”

*ISSUES

*What is the City of Calgary’s action plan to protect Bow and Elbow River Communities?

*What secondary flood mitigation strategies (SFMS) will the City of Calgary undertake to protect the property and lives of citizens in Bow and Elbow River Communities?

*Protecting City infrastructure versus people and property in river communities is not sustainable, a holistic approach should be developed

*The City of Calgary Administration submitted to City Council a $1 Billion wish list of projects for flood resiliency and mitigation, what are the City’s immediate and long-term priority projects?

*Why has the Calgary Emergency Management Agency not developed SFMS for 2014, nor requested financial funding to have a plan in place for the 2014 flood season?

*PROPERTY PROTECTION PLAN

*Under the Municipal Governance Act, a municipal government should consider matters pertaining to the safety, health, and welfare of people and the protection of people and property

*The cost to rebuild in Rideau-Roxboro is ~ $30 million, the cost to rebuild in other river communities may be similar

*Funding is required to protect Bow and Elbow river communities, as upstream projects are being development/implemented

*We request to review applicable government reports & development plans for future community disaster preparedness strategies, and to work with The City on developing community disaster preparedness plans for Bow and Elbow river communities

Current actions being undertaken by residents in Bow and Elbow River Communities

1. Development of community action plans & strategies

2. Collaboration with the Canadian Red Cross: Rideau-Roxboro Community Audit April 12-13, 2014

3. Collaboration among neighbours for residential property protection strategies

4. Advocacy for funding towards flood mitigation strategies for all Bow and Elbow River Communities

5. Implementing disaster preparedness, response and recovery strategies in all Calgary River Communities for 2014 and beyond

*PROPERTY PROTECTION PLAN

*SUNNYSIDE COMMUNITY DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

STRATEGY

*The Sunnyside Community has a unique set of issues, as it is close to the river and our storm sewer system is coupled to communities in the upper plateau (North Hill)

*In June 2013, high river levels led to closure of storm sewer outfall gates. This caused storm water from the upper catchment to flood West Sunnyside. East Sunnyside was flooded by the Bow River over topping the berm

*In July 2013, West Sunnyside flooded again as storm sewer outfall gates were closed and heavy rainfall in Calgary brought North Hill storm waters into the community

*Immediate strategies we have considered for our community are transferrable to other Bow and Elbow River communities

*Such immediate strategies involve provisions for:• Deployment of temporary flood barriers• Adequate emergency high flow pumping

*Long-term action items The City of Calgary needs to act on are:• Provision for storm sewer infrastructure upgrades and decoupling

and diversion of upper plateau storm waters• Permanently increasing the river berm height using the 2013 flood

level plus 1m freeboard • Improving The City sanitary and storm sewer lift station

infrastructure

*SUNNYSIDE COMMUNITY DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

STRATEGY

*FLOOD MITIGATION EQUIPMENT

*Temporary emergency equipment we have considered in Sunnyside can be utilized in other Bow and Elbow River Communities

Options of emergency equipment for deployment in Sunnyside (covers 2KM along Bow River & along 7 th Street)

Company Product Description Estimated Cost

MegaSecur WaterGate Item WL3950, $287/m $860,000

HESCO Bastion Inc HESCO Storm Barrier Item SL2424R, $25/ft $250,000

AquaFence USA Aqua Fence Item V1200, $900,000/km $2,700,000

Alberta SandBags Sandbags 40lb sandbag, $6.50/ea $863,753

NOAQ Aqua Dam BW50, $252/m $756,000

NOAQ NOAQ Tubewall TW100, $535/m $1,605,000

Layfield AquaDam Flood control barrier, $124,673/km $374,020

Muscle Wall (USA) Muscle Wall polyethylene 2’ wall, $100,000/km $300,000

Muscle Wall (USA) Muscle Wall polyethylene 4’ wall, $200,000/km $600,000

CEDA International High Flow Pump FP series Service agreement available

BBA Pumps High Flow Pump BA/BV Series Service agreement available

*MegaSecur – Water Gate, deployment rate of 1KM/30 minutes

*FLOOD MITIGATION EQUIPMENT

*HESCO Bastion Storm Barrier – requires gravel/dirt and labour to deploy

*AquaFence – teams of three people can deploy 100feet/hour

*FLOOD MITIGATION EQUIPMENT

*NOAQ Boxwall – light-weight borders that snap together

*NOAQ Tubewall – inflatable tube border with trailing plastic sheet, held in place by weight of water

*Layfield Aquadam – water-filled tube barrier, requires fire hydrant access or pump to fill

*FLOOD MITIGATION EQUIPMENT

*Muscle Wall – polyethylene barriers that connect together

*FLOOD MITIGATION EQUIPMENT

*Sandbags – requires heavy manual labour for deployment

*One case of FloodSax equals 900lbs of sand, easy to deploy without heavy manual labour

*FLOOD MITIGATION EQUIPMENT

*FloodSax – sand-less sandbag made of biodegradable polymer crystals, highly absorbent

*CEDA International & BPA Pumps – high flow pumping units to be placed at strategic points in river communities

*FLOOD MITIGATION EQUIPMENT

*RUSCH equipment– high flow pumping unit used in June 2013 along Memorial Drive

*RIDEAU-ROXBORO HYDROLOGY STUDY AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

*Recommendations from the independent study provided information on where to place temporary flood barriers to protect the community of Rideau-Roxboro

*Westhoff Engineering Resources Inc. conducted a hydrology study to show inundation and water levels for various flood events in the community of Rideau-Roxboro

*Recommendations from the independent study can be applied to other Bow and Elbow river communities

*STRATEGY—WORK PLAN

*Citizens are coming together to advocate for immediate disaster preparedness strategies as The City has not committed to protect property and people in Bow and Elbow river communities

*Accountability, transparency, and leadership are critical components needed from The Mayor, City Councillors, and City Administration to ensure the protection of property and people

*Flood mitigation equipment outlined above can be used in the 26 Bow and Elbow river communities effected by the June 2013 flood

*We are calling on The City to work with Bow and Elbow river community leaders and asking citizens to put pressure on The City to provide community-oriented emergency preparedness strategies to protect people and property

*FINANCIAL COSTS AND BENEFITS

*The City of Calgary is responsible for creating municipal legislation and directives with safety, health, and welfare of people and the protection of people and property in mind

*We have viable disaster preparedness strategies that can be deployed in Bow and Elbow river communities now

*We estimate that ~$40 million is required to implement community-oriented disaster preparedness strategies in Bow and Elbow river communities that were effected in June 2013

*Implementation of community-oriented disaster preparedness strategies will ensure ALL residents in a community are protected, that critical services can remain open, and that vulnerable individuals are not displaced

*A disaster preparedness plan to protect all Bow and Elbow river communities in Calgary makes economic sense – such a plan will prevent loss of infrastructure, property, productivity, investments, tourism, mental wellbeing, etc…

*FINANCIAL COSTS AND BENEFITS

*A disaster preparedness plan to protect all Bow and Elbow river communities will ensure Calgarians are not financially or emotionally harmed

*The estimated cost of recovering five flood-effect City buildings is $29million and the financial analysis of loss productivity for City employees in the downtown core is ~$1.6million/day

*Without a disaster preparedness plan to protect Bow and Elbow river communities, taxpayers will continue to pay every time a flood hits Calgary

*CALL TO ACTION

*Ask The Mayor, Councillors, and City Administration to exercise transparency, accountability and leadership for community-oriented disaster preparedness strategies

*Ask The Mayor, Councillors, and City Administration to support and advocate the Government of Alberta for funding of immediate community-oriented disaster preparedness strategies

*Be vocal on social media for immediate disaster preparedness strategies that protect people, communities, and properties

*Ask The Mayor, Councillors, and City Administration to develop, implement and publicize a City of Calgary disaster preparedness action plan that protects people, communities, and properties

*Sign our petition advocating for a community-oriented disaster preparedness plan to protect Bow and Elbow river communities

*RECOMMENDATIONS

*Continue to develop personal and community-oriented disaster preparedness strategies for the upcoming flood season*Document all purchases for flood mitigation equipment

*Voice your concerns about disaster preparedness, response and recovery to the Canadian Red Cross and Samaritan’s Purse

*Sign our petition in support of a community-oriented disaster preparedness plan for ALL Bow and Elbow river communities

*Continue to put pressure on The Mayor, Councillors and City Administration to develop, support, and implement immediate community-oriented disaster preparedness strategies for ALL Bow and Elbow river communities

*ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

*Thank you to all Calgary residents whom I have spoken to by phone or by email – your concerns, comments, and recommendations are heard

*Special thanks to:

Elbow River in Calgary• Maureen Bell

• Allan Marston• Alicia Welsh-Maxim• Steve Forrest• Lee Prevost• Dennis Westhoff• Darcy Verhun• Tom Lester• Doug Bryson• Janet Mezzarobba

• Officials of the Canadian Red Cross

• Government of Canada• Province of Alberta• City of Calgary

• Company representatives present to demo flood control equipment

Sunnyside Concerned Citizens Group• Brian Bass• Mike Bradfield• Deborah Murray• Gloria Mak• John Doherty

*SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

*Flood assessment Rideau-Roxboro study (Westhoff Engineering Resources Inc., April 11, 2014)

*The City of Calgary 2013 Flood Recovery Task Force Update: Resilience Report, April 01, 2014

*James Maxim

A Better Calgary – www.abettercalgary.weebly.com

*Sunnyside Concerned Citizens Group – Sunnyside Community Disaster Preparedness Strategy