Quebec Gov't Requests CAF support to address flooding

[Jarnhamar]

Not sure if it's a clever Photoshop but it looked/seemed legit.  Image of a soldier that CBC initially used to depict how many soldiers were deployed to the flood was a silhouette that looked a lot like a German Nazi soldier complete with SS on the helmet. Looks to be changed  now.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I drew on a map to show the areas I did not want a house and gave it to my real estate agent, I highlighted the flood area (in case of dam failure) and where most of the known geology issues are with slope failure. Pretty confident the area I am in will stay put in a earthquake. She said in 20 years no one has ever given her such instructions. There was one house I looked at on a steep bank above a creek, the foundation had cracked clean across, been repaired and cracked again, repeated again. I looked at the real estate agent and said "how nice expanding square footage and a future split level house"

 

[NavyShooter]

"Location location location" means different things to different people...

 

[jollyjacktar]

Just got word from my CoC that the offices in Gatineau are closed again, Tuesday 9th May.  More rain on the weekend and next week too.  This weather is going to get out of hand.

 

[kratz]

Not only are average citizens not grateful the military has sent more than 1600 into areas of Quebec, now one of the federal NDP MPs, Matthew Dube, wants the military to stay after the emergency is over to clean up those sandbags.

 

[Edward Campbell]

I disagree.  The blame must be shared.  Different levels of government allowed development of neighbourhoods close to the water, knowing it is close to water.  There is, then, some expectation from the government that people will establish themselve in those neighbourhoods. It is part of their city/provincial planning and should be held accountable to some level.  I am pretty sure the owners will already be losing quite a bit, both immaterial and material.

The Globe and Mail agrees with you, Max, in an editorial, dated 8 May 17. People make mistakes, often out of greed and ignorance, as the OP said, but governments, at all levels, then encourage them to repeat the mistake, over and over again: Einstein's definition of insanity.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Not only are average citizens not grateful the military has sent more than 1600 into areas of Quebec, now one of the federal NDP MPs, Matthew Dube, wants the military to stay after the emergency is over to clean up those sandbags.

Fucking ingrates.

 

[daftandbarmy]

The Globe and Mail agrees with you, Max, in an editorial, dated 8 May 17. People make mistakes, often out of greed and ignorance, as the OP said, but governments, at all levels, then encourage them to repeat the mistake, over and over again: Einstein's definition of insanity.

The same thing happened with the big flood in Southern Alberta in 2013. A lot of properties wiped out should never have been built that close to the waterways, but various self-interested land developers got deals from various politicians to 'bend' the regulations.

Who paid the price? The people who'd bought from the developers.

 

[Edward Campbell]

And the people of Gatineau, according to the CBC, are complaining that either the army isn't there at all, for them, or just made a token appearance ... One man, 79 year old Quyon resident Raymond Wilfred Bertrand, who claims to have served in the military as a young man, is quoted as saying: "We are paying the armed forces. It's all taxpayers' money. Why did they not bring them at least two weeks ago? I know they cannot protect everyone's home, but a lot of people didn't go and get sandbags because they couldn't."

 

[Infanteer]

Who paid the price? The people who'd bought from the developers.

...and every other homeowner.  House insurance in Alberta went up in Alberta in 2014.

 

[The Bread Guy]

The blame must be shared.  Different levels of government allowed development of neighbourhoods close to the water, knowing it is close to water.  There is, then, some expectation from the government that people will establish themselve in those neighbourhoods. It is part of their city/provincial planning and should be held accountable to some level.  I am pretty sure the owners will already be losing quite a bit, both immaterial and material.

Agreed -- although I wonder if people living in these areas had to sign any sort of waiver given they were in a flood plain?  Or is that only for predictable, everyday flood plains, as opposed to "once every 40 years or so" flood plains?

Not sure if it's a clever Photoshop but it looked/seemed legit.  Image of a soldier that CBC initially used to depict how many soldiers were deployed to the flood was a silhouette that looked a lot like a German Nazi soldier complete with SS on the helmet. Looks to be changed  now.

See attached  >

 

[Journeyman]

Who knew?    :dunno:

One way to battle future flooding: stop building on flood plains, say experts

"The municipality really doesn't have an incentive to go in and use land-use planning and building codes and communications strategies to tell people that they are at risk of flooding, particularly given that most of the revenue comes from development, it comes from property taxes." Thistlethwaite said. "So they face a real conflict of interest."

"Poor land-use planning at the local level basically goes unpunished and in fact gets rewarded with additional disaster assistance from the province, from the federal government."

LINK


In other flooding news....

Flooding prompts Prince Edward County to declare a state of emergency

LINK

Prince Edward County is just south of Trenton.  They'll be inundated with RCAF people demanding 4-star hotels,  lattes...... and tax-exempt status.  >

 

[SupersonicMax]

They'll be inundated with RCAF people demanding 4-star hotels,  lattes...... and tax-exempt status. 

Coming from you, this is insulting suggesting the RCAF would ask for 4-star hotels...

You know we would ask 5-star hotels!

 

[Journeyman]

Coming from you, this is insulting suggesting the RCAF would ask for 4-star hotels...

You know we would ask 5-star hotels!

Actually, I initially wrote 5-star;  then I realized that there would be non-aircrew involved.  ;D

 

[Jarnhamar]

Coming from you, this is insulting suggesting the RCAF would ask for 4-star hotels...

You know we would ask 5-star hotels!

Aircrew buddy if mine was telling me there's some kind of rule that aircrew are supposed to get individual quarters when on the road for sleeping. I guess like single person hotel rooms?  Said there was quite a bit of drama when people were told because of the budget they would likely be sharing rooms when possible.

 

[SupersonicMax]

Jarnhamar,

To be fair, this is more of a safety concern.  While there has been instances where I shared rooms with someone else but we generally try to avoid it.  When on the road, we generally have a pretty agressive schedule and are either resting or conducting flying activities so good rest is actually important in safe operations.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Thats fair. No one out ranks general safety ;D

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Aircrew buddy if mine was telling me there's some kind of rule that aircrew are supposed to get individual quarters when on the road for sleeping. I guess like single person hotel rooms?  Said there was quite a bit of drama when people were told because of the budget they would likely be sharing rooms when possible.

It really depends on your Wing/Sqn policy and the current financial climate. Generally, when on the road, you get your own hotel room. However, I have recently ferried a Sea King across the country and it was shared rooms the whole way because of budget concerns...

On a ship, nearly nobody gets their own cabin. The techs are in 19 mess, which has about an 18 rack capacity (and is right over the propellers, making it arguably the worst mess on the ship for noise and vibration). The aircrew officers often get shoehorned into cabin 6/8 which has 6 racks. This at least has the virtue of letting them control their own crew rest situation, somewhat.

The upcoming classes of ships (I am told) will be much closer to a commercial standard for Accomodations for all ranks.

 

[Old Sweat]

Folks

If you are so inclined and can afford it, please consider a donation to the Red Cross, the designated agency for flood relief. We are in the position to do so, and made a fairly substantial one this morning. The park on the St Lawrence where we put our trailer for the summer is under a few feet of water, but that hardly matters compared to what many of our fellow Canadians are experiencing.

 

[211RadOp]

Old Sweat will recognize this place as he has been here once or twice 

The top of the tractor rim is usually 1 to 2 feet above water level at this time of year.  For situational purposes, that is PEC in the background.

Edit:  Forgot to add that this was taken on 9 May and the water has not peaked yet.