Calgary flood - how will this affect Friday's game?

[David]

While McMahon stadium is safe - it's at a higher elevation than the downtown core and not close to the Bow river - much of the city remains (at least partially) underwater. Downtown has been without power, with 75,000 people forced to evacuate DETAILS HERE.

I've read some message boards that are calling for postponement of the June 28 game....or possibly moving the game here (not sure that will work). I would imagine the Leos could charter a flight to YYC the day of the game (it's only a 1 hour flight) if hotels in the area are a mess.

I know a football game is trivial in the big picture for those who have lost everything, but it has to be decided one way or another. Thoughts?


DH

[Hambone]

I listened to Mayenecht asking the same question to Skulsky this morning. Skulsky's response is that both the Lions and CFL have been in contact about that. At this point he says Calgary is in such a mess and obviously folks there have much higher priorities on their minds that holding the game or not is the least of their concerns. He figures it will take a couple of days before Calgary knows if it's reasonable to continue or not. Until that happens they can't do much other than explore Plan B options.

I'm down in Fernie and was talking to a fellow who is a manufacturing manager at a Calgary HVAC plant facility. He was relaying how he tried getting into their plant yesterday and how futile that turned out to be. He figures it could be several days before they can get downtown back into some semblance of order and that's IF all the transformers etc which he said a located below ground downtown will allow power restoration at the flip of the switch. I was going to detour through Calgary on the way back to PG on Friday to take in the game but am wondering if it will be worth the hassle. Global News is reporting it could be mid-week before full access to downtown is restored. It's one thing to have access and quite another for it to be functioning anywhere remotely close to normal. The main disaster area downtown will create a ripple effect throughout the city be it in terms of transit systems, hotels that could be knocked out of service for several days and of course thousands of Stampeder fans who have much bigger fish to fry.

For Calgary their biggest sports/entertainment challenge will be preparing for the Stampede which opens one week after the football game. By the time the water subsides enough to assess the damage they'll probably only have a week to repair the damage and try to get what would obviously be a severely compromised event off the ground. They may have to cancel that too.

[Rodu]

swap this Calgary home game vs us with one of our own agaiunst them in the fall maybe

[South Pender]

swap this Calgary home game vs us with one of our own agaiunst them in the fall maybe

I wonder whether arrangements to use BC Place could be carried out on such short notice.

[Hambone]

swap this Calgary home game vs us with one of our own agaiunst them in the fall maybe

Obvious possibility although there could be many Stamps players and staff who will spend more time this week dealing with flood issues than practicing. It'll be challenging enough getting prepared for Friday as it is without losing a day for travel to a road game. Also there would be a scheduling conflict with BC Place. There's a Taylor Swift concert scheduled for next Saturday with the 3 days leading up to is showing as "Move In" on the calendar. Given it's a stadium concert they would need a lot more than a day to set up I suspect. Probably would have to hold the game this Wednesday or Thursday if in Vancouver. Holding it after the concert moves out is far from ideal because it would take at least 24 hours for the conversion. Sunday looks to be open but the Lions play Toronto on the 4th making for only 3 days between games. Not a good idea to have 2 games in 5 days to start the season.

Might be able to leverage the bye week but that would involve changing a couple of games. BC and Winnipeg play on the BC Day weekend. Stamps and Riders are off. Following weekend BC and Winnipeg are off while Stamps and Riders play. Could flip one of those games to the other weekend then have BC play Calgary. It would cost both their bye would be the only problem.

[South Pender]

Ken King (CEO of the Calgary Flames) spoke on CBC TV a few minutes ago and said that the football game will go ahead as planned in Calgary. Now, he was reporting mainly on the condition of the Saddledome, which has been devastated, and the implications for the Flames and the start of the NHL season, so he may be misinformed about the football game, as that's not his concern. I gather that McMahon Stadium is on higher ground, and he may have thought that, because of that, there'd be no reason to cancel the game. But as others have pointed out, the city is in crisis mode now, and factors other than the state of McMahon Stadium may well rule out Friday's game.

[DanoT]

Sask plays in Edmonton on Sat. night so there is hopefully an open date in Edmonton on Friday so why not play the game there, a sort of semi neutral site?

[South Pender]

Sask plays in Edmonton on Sat. night so there is hopefully an open date in Edmonton on Friday so why not play the game there, a sort of semi neutral site?

That makes sense to me. My guess is that the CFL braintrust, along with the executives of the teams involved, are putting their heads together as we speak to find a solution.

[Hambone]

Ken King (CEO of the Calgary Flames) spoke on CBC TV a few minutes ago and said that the football game will go ahead as planned in Calgary. Now, he was reporting mainly on the condition of the Saddledome, which has been devastated, and the implications for the Flames and the start of the NHL season, so he may be misinformed about the football game, as that's not his concern. I gather that McMahon Stadium is on higher ground, and he may have thought that, because of that, there'd be no reason to cancel the game. But as others have pointed out, the city is in crisis mode now, and factors other than the state of McMahon Stadium may well rule out Friday's game.

Never been to Calgary eh?

Saddledome is right on the edge of the Elbow River, less than 100 yards from its banks and in probably the flatest part of Calgary. McMahon is a mile away from the Bow River and 300 feet in elevation above it. I think they will probably go ahead still unless they find in the next 48 hours that there are just too many issues to overcome in a short period. The stadium itself won't be a factor in whatever decision is made.

[sj-roc]

Ken King (CEO of the Calgary Flames) spoke on CBC TV a few minutes ago and said that the football game will go ahead as planned in Calgary. Now, he was reporting mainly on the condition of the Saddledome, which has been devastated, and the implications for the Flames and the start of the NHL season, so he may be misinformed about the football game, as that's not his concern. I gather that McMahon Stadium is on higher ground, and he may have thought that, because of that, there'd be no reason to cancel the game. But as others have pointed out, the city is in crisis mode now, and factors other than the state of McMahon Stadium may well rule out Friday's game.

Never been to Calgary eh?

Saddledome is right on the edge of the Elbow River, less than 100 yards from its banks and in probably the flatest part of Calgary. McMahon is a mile away from the Bow River and 300 feet in elevation above it. I think they will probably go ahead still unless they find in the next 48 hours that there are just too many issues to overcome in a short period. The stadium itself won't be a factor in whatever decision is made.

Don't the Flames own the Stampeders? In which case, anyone from the Flames speaking publicly for the Stamps wouldn't really be talking out of turn?

[WestCoastJoe]

The extent of the Calgary flooding has surprised me. And I didn't know that it has happened a number of times. Thoughts, hopes and best wishes are with the people of Calgary ...

Saturday » June 22 » 2013
 
Alberta flooding history
 
Calgary Herald

Friday, June 21, 2013

? CALGARY (June 1897) 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.

? CALGARY (June 1915) 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.

? CALGARY (June 1923) 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.

? CALGARY (June 1929) 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.

? CALGARY (June 1932) 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.

? CANMORE (February 1937) Ice jams cause the Bow River to flood, dousing heating plants and forcing families to scramble for their lives in -20C temperatures.

? CALGARY (January 1942) Backed up by an ice jam, the Bow River overflows into Sunnyside.

? HIGH RIVER (May 1942) The town lies under two metres of water after rains swell the Highwood River, forcing evacuation of homes.

? CALGARY (November 1945) Frigid water inundates the Hillhurst area due to ice jams, prompting an investigation of flood control improvements.

? CALGARY (November 1946) Zookeepers evacuate animals from St. George's Island to escape a flood caused by ice jams.

? CALGARY (March 1947) Rapid thaw of heavy spring snow swells rivers, soaks Hillhurst and Sunnyside.

? CALGARY (January 1948) Ice jams send frigid water from the Bow spilling over into Chinatown and Sunnyside.

? CARDSTON (April-June 1948) Two men drown in Cardston and 2,000 residents of nearby Pincher Creek flee homes.

? CALGARY (December 1950) Nearly 3,000 residents are forced to abandon their houses, apartments and hotel rooms in -30C degree temperatures when ice jams the Bow.

? MEDICINE HAT (March 1951) Six bombs dropped by military aircraft fail to clear an ice jam on the South Saskatchewan River, which floods homes.

? LETHBRIDGE (June 1953) The Oldman River, swollen to levels six metres above normal, washes away houses, forces neighbourhoods to be evacuated, cuts rail lines and short-circuits electricity supplies.

? FORT MACLEOD (June 1975) A 20-year-old man from Standoff, on the nearby Blood Indian Reserve, is swept away and drowned in the Oldman River, which is sent over its banks by rain and melting mountain snow.

? CALGARY (August 1990) 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.

? SOUTHERN ALBERTA (June 1995) 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 Leth-bridge sewage treatment plant is flooded, dumping raw sewage into the Oldman River, which is flowing as much as 100 times its normal amount.

? HALKIRK (east of Red Deer) (June 3, 1996) 175 mm of rain falls in one hour, wiping out crops and roads, and popping the lids off manholes.

? SOUTHERN ALBERTA (June 2005) 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.

[LFITQ]

Assuming people can get to the game and the logistics involved is possible, a football game may be just what the doctor ordered for the people of Calgary. A much needed break and a bit of "normalcy" brought back in to their lives in the middle of this crisis. That is presupposing it does not make a further impact on stretching their resources in this time of need.

[Jim Mullin]

Play it in Regina. You could get 15k there on short notice. Or Saskatoon. You can get 10k to show up there on short notice. Stadium seats just under 7k, but with berms you can get 10.

[Hambone]

Sask plays in Edmonton on Sat. night so there is hopefully an open date in Edmonton on Friday so why not play the game there, a sort of semi neutral site?

I don't think that makes sense. McMahon itself isn't impacted. Fans who can't make it to McMahon for flood related reasons can't make it to Commonwealth either. Many in the Calgary area who can get to the game Friday wouldn't travel up to Edmonton anyways. No matter what chaos there is in Cowtown they still should have no problem outdrawing any neutral site option. Worst case scenario I think you get 20K at McMahon. Best case anywhere else other than BC Place might be 10K. They'd move the game to an alternate date before an alternate site.

[Rammer]

Assuming people can get to the game and the logistics involved is possible, a football game may be just what the doctor ordered for the people of Calgary. A much needed break and a bit of "normalcy" brought back in to their lives in the middle of this crisis. That is presupposing it does not make a further impact on stretching their resources in this time of need.

Also of note for the Calgary flooding, is that they are asking for people to stop sending food as the warehouse is at capacity. Got to really hand it to the people of Calgary, they are community heart and soul minded.