AS the waters recede in Alberta, the cost of cleaning up after the most damaging flood in Canada is just beginning to become apparent.
Premier Alison Redford has pledged $1 billion towards what might be a 10year process of restoration. However, BMO Nesbitt Burns suggests the damage could total $5 billion, making the Alberta flood the second costliest natural disaster in Canada's history (the damage by the 1998 ice storm topped that figure by more than a billion dollars).
Despite the loss of life and possessions, there has been much to admire in Calgary's response to the destruction. As the downtown had its power restored Monday, the city asked for 600 volunteers to help residents return home. Within a few hours some 2,500 showed up.
Homeowners unaffected by the flood have opened their homes to the dispossessed.
A CFL player, asked what he thought about the disaster, said he didn't have any skills but could swing a hammer and told anyone who liked to call him and his wife for help.
The city's disaster response organization has done the best that is humanly possible in the situation, and its tireless mayor, Naheed Nenshi, made it a personal responsibility to keep his residents informed and updated.
We'd like to think this community generosity, grit and determination would play out in the same way in any disaster closer to home. But perhaps we are witnessing what is unique to Calgary. Either way, we should all be checking our self-sufficiency and emergency plans this week.
