You may have seen this on our office cam...
Well, we had to leave because of this...
Here is a good summary video.. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10152915137815526"; width="640" height="360" frameborder="0"></iframe>
It came out of no where. There has been a lot of rain lately. Where we are situated is at the base of the Rocky Mountains. There is a river called The Bow which is a glacier runoff of beautiful clean water from the Rocky's. The river is also fed by a few other rivers and lakes from north and west of the city.
This is what Calgary normally looks like...
Yesterday we were aware that the river had risen quite a bit. Alan and I were preparing to go to the gym when an officer came to our office and handed us an evacuation notice. There are a few dams up stream from Calgary that are unable to hold the water back any longer. They will be opening the damn and there was a concern that the city would flood.
Well, they were right... and no one expected what had happened.
I woke up this morning to this... Here is a short video from my iphone of in front of my house, and next to our office. My home currently has intermittent electricity, no gas, no hot water, no heat, and no drinkable water. Sirens are on constantly as fire trucks and police patrol the city.
We live in a beautiful city. I'm so grateful to watch the entire city work together. As homes are evacuated, everyone is offering couches to sleep on. With hundreds of thousands of people without a home and many without power, there have been no casualties. I'm very proud of our city!
Here are some photos that I had taken today near my home.
The Canadian Geese are happy
This is a very sad part. It's entirely emotional and hurts my heart. There is a great deal of destruction everywhere, however... This is the "stampede grounds". Also home of our NHL hockey arena for the Calgary Flames. The arena and grounds include historical material, such as trophies, jerseys, certificates and more. Generally, a long list of athletic records and awards. The arena (Saddledome) is currently filled with water up to the 10th row! All electronics, jumbo-tron and more are destroyed.
Now... here's facebook pics from other sources...
Here's some news sources with videos:
Hey, i want to see the carnage, who doesn't, that's why we have NEWS so to see it from them is second hand, i like Technopro's idea of looking at camera's but yes there is the camera issue and computer issue needing power, another but thou, i have cams in my home that send me pics every minute of the day with battery backup and other than being under water or destroyed they are always on.
I would have thought that some of you guys building robots would be leaning to the preservation and monitoring side of robotics ...like water proofing, battery backup, robust housing and my biggie , never have to turn my bot off, backups of the backups.
o and I never intend, cause or like ill will to anyone and sympathize with all people of our planet that have woes but as you might have noticed I am a very realistic person and believe that all things happen for us to learn from like , DJ should consider selling that location and build the next office on higher ground because that area IS going to flood again!
Well, watching a friend or someone you look up to go through something like this in "real time" just makes me feel helpless and sad. To sit back and watch seems wrong. Being realistic is one thing but to get a thrill out it is anouther. I hope being realistic also includes doing something to help. tired
I'm not going to belabor the subject of right and wrong, not once did anyone here say they were getting a thrill out of it you feel very passionate about your feelings but and have expressed them , a few other people have expressed their opinions also and then get some big lecture about it.
Thank God we are not all the same or better yet like ROBOTS!
i'm done...............
I too believe there is enough videos of the flooding from many many sources to give everyone an idea what is happening without having DJ set up more cameras!
Lecture? Yes, maybe I am trying to lecture. Truly, this is something I don't usually do but maybe someone needs to speak up for social compassion and grace. Sadly we seem to live in a graceless age where what we want and our entertainment is more important then what the other guy is going through. That's what you you guys are asking for isn't it? You want to be entertained by seeing the live "carnage" in the office that DJ put so much hard work and time into to get opened? This thread that DJ started has sparked a few deep emotions and issues that are close to me; loss by tragedy and the trend by society to ignore other peoples feelings. I have the same freedom to express my opinion on this topic as others do when they want to see the live "Carnage" of other peoples lives and hard work.
Don't worry - I would have had the cameras on if there was power for my own personal interest.
I'm very confident that our office is going to be alright. Our office is in the flooded area, but I don't think the water will reach it, magically. We may be really, really, really lucky...
From this post today: http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2013/06/22/military-comes-to-the-rescue-of-new-threat-to-inglewood/
It looks like the flood area in red will continue to miss our office by a tiny little bit. I'm confident the army's placement of concrete barriers will divert the water before it raises much higher in our area. I know it has flooded to the back door, and today it seems to have gone down. Tonight will be the big test!
Sweet DJ that is good to hear! I hope the robots are safe
I agree whole heartedly with dschulpius! I would express my own experience with hurricane Andrew and dealings with people like Putt Putt but I wouldnt want to detract from the loss and aggravation that DJ is going through. I sympathize with you DJ.