Well, spring is coming and everyones got their panties all up in a bunch about the spring flooding.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bre...116854748.html

The news makes it look like oh all of manitoba is going to flood but it really isnt that. South of the city towns get cut off and use ring dikes, within the city flooding although gets high stays relatively low and only affects a small amount of people, those being the same people every year that live in the flood prone areas.

But every year the flood comes and its big news and etc. It happens all the time.
So often that you can even see the sandbag and tube dikes when google came and did their street view
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=...,50.28,,0,9.32

They have these amphibex machines that break up the ice as ice jams are the biggest concern, and we have this multi million dollar ditch that goes around the city to divert water..oh ya.its a BIG ditch, great to go offroading, they even have a ski hill in this giant ditch.


But basically right now the ground is saturated and the flood threat is high, probale to the 2009 flood, but i think about a 10% chance of a flood equal to the 1997 flood of the century, which was a pretty damn ....(haha, dam, no pun intended)..big flood.....

But you know your from manitoba when you actually go for a drive to see the flood waters.......Will be interesting to see how things play out this year

 

bah! i have a personal flood every year in my back yard.


the damn berm that seperates my property from the rail line, has a constant flow of run-off-'til July!!

you know you now owe us some pic's of said ditch off-roading area, right?

 

heres the floodway in operation

Dont have any super recent pics, used to be HUGE place to go offroad, but they have been doing construction last couple years to make the ditch bigger......in blazer khana the intro is coming down the side of the floodway
here is some pics in the summer a few years ago

 

We don't get flooding on that scale around here, but many people get flooded basements. It is surprising how many places we go to over and over again. The same places every time there is a thaw or heavy rain. These people can't learn that they have to get a GOOD sump pump and not just the cheapest crap you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes. What is funny is that if they spent the money for a good pump just for once, they would save money on all of the damage that takes place to their stuff the first time. Short sighted much!

 

people here in winnipeg are very....CHEAP.....and that same problem happens. AND its the people that are close to the river that floods every year..uhhh...duh??>...So this year for flood prep the city has rolled out a rebate plan where the city covers 60% of the cost of installing a backwater valve and sump pump..............but, some people never learn

 

Interesting pics. I love watching the shows about making that kind of stuff. If you dont know about it, you have to check out the dam project that China has on the go... Its 3km WIDE and like 100m TALL... What you really want to see is the destruction of the 3rd temporary part to make the whole dam as it is, they blast the temporary dam away, and a wall of water that is 1km by 100m moves about 30m to slam into the dam... If it is ever going to break, this is when it would happen. Absolutley amazing stuff and if you are a construction geek, you will love it. Ill edit in a few links of this if I can find them. Another cool thing is the lift that takes boats... err massive ships... and the water that suspends them... dozens at a time... up the 100m to the next level. They have to be able to let something stupid of a number of boats through everyday...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam

Flooding isnt really a problem here in Edmonton the city is split by a deep river valley, so most places are quite alot higher than the water level. Once every ten years or so the people who live in the river valley base get it, but its a select few, and they knew that it happens when they bought the houses. We get the odd house in Riverbend neighborhood falling off the edge of the banks, but anyone who builds a house on the top ridge of the outside of the riverbend is short a few bricks. Makes for good news footage when they go over the edge.

Our problem here is that its so bloody cold... It was -38C last night at 4am while I was working. And I have no usable truck right now as I search out the right replacement for my current blazer. I was curious to see if she would start last night, and nope, wont even do one rotation and its inside in the garage.

When I lived in BC in the Fraser Valley (lower mainland) flooding is a HUGE problem. I never visited anyone on the lower mainland that had a basement... They have 2 or 3 storey houses at ground level, or up off the ground. Another weird thing I found there is that not many people have furnaces... It doesnt really get below zero there and electric heaters cut the mustard. They have the hot water tanks in closets with exterior doors. I thought it was strange as I grew up living in the basement, and like being downstairs with the sound of my furnace at night in the summertime.

 

Three gorges dam is a crazy project. I know alot about it, especially the environmental issues regarding it. The resevior isnt even full yet, they bought out towns to flood and they didnt clean the garbage from the towns that were flooded so there is tons of garbage floating everywhere......
And as for dams i know all about it..My dad is an engineer that designs them for a living :P haha

I have seen a few houses with no basements, just seems weird to me.

 

Heres the flooding thats coming our way
Photos: Red River flooding from the air | Minnesota in Photos | Minnesota Public Radio News

and heres the water level now
2011 Flood Data - Winnipeg Free Press


theyve been busy sandbagging for the past few weeks

 

2009 flood at Lockport
Pictures by Rottidog - Photobucket