Eomer
07-12-2004, 10:27 PM
So, we are in the middle of a 5 year drought. Soil moisture levels in Western Canada have been at all time lows, way lower than they were in the 30's. Then all of the sudden, in the past week we got hit by 3 pretty decent storms, capped off by one yesterday that brought virtually the entire city to a standstill, and kicked off tornadoes throughout the region. Some areas of the city received 6 inches of rain and golfball sized hail in under 60 minutes. For reference, when I size a storm drainage system for a building, code requirement is for a 100 year storm, which in the region is just under 1 inch in 15 minutes. It's also assumed that the storm will not last much longer than 15-30 minutes at that rate of downpour. Now the city storm system I don't know what they use to size it, but it's probably something similar. They also get away with making it a bit smaller by designing various lagoons, parks, and what not to fill up with water as temporary storage, while the system catches up.
However, because of the two previous large storms, the system was most likely already partially full. When you pile on this ridiculous storm from yesterday on top of it, well, the shit hit the fan. I was at West Edmonton Mall at the time buying some clothes. I pulled in at about 2pm, the skies were overcast but there were no storm clouds around, and the forecast was for a low possibility of rain. At about 3pm, I walked towards the centre of the mall where the skating rink is. As I got closer, I noticed a bunch of people standing at the railings, looking down (I was on the second floor). At that point I had no idea it was even raining, since there isn't much for windows and the skylights were kind of soaped over. I walk up, look down, and see water pouring from the main floor ceiling. At first I was tempted to walk down and see what was going on, since we have done work for the mall in the past and now the general manager relatively well. At the time I just assumed it was a water main break, due to the volume of the water and my ignorance of the storm. So I thought better of it, and kept shopping on the second floor. After hitting one more store, I walked out and looked up at a skylight because I saw a drip come down from it. Sure enough, I could see hail pelting the hell out of it.
At that point it occurred to me what was going on, and I realized my car was unsheltered. So I sprinted from one end of the mall to the other with all my crap (seriously, you have no idea how big this place is, to make matters worse, it's only two stories, so VERY spread out). I finally make it to the entrance where I parked (noticing that virtually every skylight along the way is leaking water, even though they were above the water, they were leaking from the strenght of the rain). I look outside, and thank god that the hail coming down is only pea sized, not big enough to do any damage. Regardless I bolt out across the parking lot (also I believe the world's largest, we are all about having big shit here in E-town, got a big fucking cowboy boot too, baseball bat as well!), hop in the car, and pull down to the main level. By this time, all the storm sewer catch basins are geysering water up 6-10 feet in the air from the pressure of all the water collecting on the mall's roof. At about this time, they evacuated the mall because of the sheer amount of water on the roof, they honestly feared the place might come down. 30,000 people come streaming out of the place all at once. I park at the far end of the parking lot at a high spot, hoping the water won't rise high enough to damage my car. At some spots it was upwards of 8 feet deep. I get out of my car, change into a bathing suit I just bought, and start helping people push their stalled cars to higher ground. After the second one, I observe three more people plow into the same pool I just moved two cars out of. Naturally I decide fuck these idiots, am going back to my car.
At about this same time, the problems inside the mall went from bad to worse. Instead of just one isolated area having a big leak, the storm system within the mall also started backing up. 1500 drains throughout the building start their own little mini geysers as well, apparently flooding the majority of the mall.
Eventually the hail stopped, and I decided to make a break for it, hoping that the streets were passable. God was I wrong. Roads all over the city were under water, in some places upwards of 20 feet deep (some of our freeways are in old ravines, and again the storm system is designed to store water in them in case of a really bad storm, just not this bad). Eventually I got away from the vicinity of the mall by driving on sidewalks, embankments, and anything else that wasn't under 4 feet of water (am all about the AWD, although a SUV or truck would have been better).
Long story short, what a goddamn mess. Damage at just the mall is expected to be in the tens, if not hundreds of millions. Damages throughout the city will probably be the same as well. It hasn't been declared a disaster yet, but I think it will be. Coincidentally the province declared it was debt free this morning. Hand over some cash Ralphie boy.
Pics:
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/during_after.jpg
heh, sucks to be the owner of that car. This is the main freeway in the city.
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Terra012.jpg
Again, the main freeway. The concrete you can see is the underside of the overpass, that's how high the water got.
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Whitemud2.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Whitemud3.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/1hourafter.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/2hoursafter.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Terra017.jpg
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Whitemud1.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Whitemud4.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Whitemud5.JPG
However, because of the two previous large storms, the system was most likely already partially full. When you pile on this ridiculous storm from yesterday on top of it, well, the shit hit the fan. I was at West Edmonton Mall at the time buying some clothes. I pulled in at about 2pm, the skies were overcast but there were no storm clouds around, and the forecast was for a low possibility of rain. At about 3pm, I walked towards the centre of the mall where the skating rink is. As I got closer, I noticed a bunch of people standing at the railings, looking down (I was on the second floor). At that point I had no idea it was even raining, since there isn't much for windows and the skylights were kind of soaped over. I walk up, look down, and see water pouring from the main floor ceiling. At first I was tempted to walk down and see what was going on, since we have done work for the mall in the past and now the general manager relatively well. At the time I just assumed it was a water main break, due to the volume of the water and my ignorance of the storm. So I thought better of it, and kept shopping on the second floor. After hitting one more store, I walked out and looked up at a skylight because I saw a drip come down from it. Sure enough, I could see hail pelting the hell out of it.
At that point it occurred to me what was going on, and I realized my car was unsheltered. So I sprinted from one end of the mall to the other with all my crap (seriously, you have no idea how big this place is, to make matters worse, it's only two stories, so VERY spread out). I finally make it to the entrance where I parked (noticing that virtually every skylight along the way is leaking water, even though they were above the water, they were leaking from the strenght of the rain). I look outside, and thank god that the hail coming down is only pea sized, not big enough to do any damage. Regardless I bolt out across the parking lot (also I believe the world's largest, we are all about having big shit here in E-town, got a big fucking cowboy boot too, baseball bat as well!), hop in the car, and pull down to the main level. By this time, all the storm sewer catch basins are geysering water up 6-10 feet in the air from the pressure of all the water collecting on the mall's roof. At about this time, they evacuated the mall because of the sheer amount of water on the roof, they honestly feared the place might come down. 30,000 people come streaming out of the place all at once. I park at the far end of the parking lot at a high spot, hoping the water won't rise high enough to damage my car. At some spots it was upwards of 8 feet deep. I get out of my car, change into a bathing suit I just bought, and start helping people push their stalled cars to higher ground. After the second one, I observe three more people plow into the same pool I just moved two cars out of. Naturally I decide fuck these idiots, am going back to my car.
At about this same time, the problems inside the mall went from bad to worse. Instead of just one isolated area having a big leak, the storm system within the mall also started backing up. 1500 drains throughout the building start their own little mini geysers as well, apparently flooding the majority of the mall.
Eventually the hail stopped, and I decided to make a break for it, hoping that the streets were passable. God was I wrong. Roads all over the city were under water, in some places upwards of 20 feet deep (some of our freeways are in old ravines, and again the storm system is designed to store water in them in case of a really bad storm, just not this bad). Eventually I got away from the vicinity of the mall by driving on sidewalks, embankments, and anything else that wasn't under 4 feet of water (am all about the AWD, although a SUV or truck would have been better).
Long story short, what a goddamn mess. Damage at just the mall is expected to be in the tens, if not hundreds of millions. Damages throughout the city will probably be the same as well. It hasn't been declared a disaster yet, but I think it will be. Coincidentally the province declared it was debt free this morning. Hand over some cash Ralphie boy.
Pics:
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/during_after.jpg
heh, sucks to be the owner of that car. This is the main freeway in the city.
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Terra012.jpg
Again, the main freeway. The concrete you can see is the underside of the overpass, that's how high the water got.
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Whitemud2.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Whitemud3.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/1hourafter.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/2hoursafter.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Terra017.jpg
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Whitemud1.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Whitemud4.JPG
http://members.shaw.ca/spammehere/Whitemud5.JPG