Avoidable Consequences of
Spring Flooding in
Northern Alberta
Social Irresponsibility Once Again Forces Working People to Suffer Great Losses
- Peggy Askin -
Photo of flooding in downtown Fort McMurray from uncredited facebook
post.
The working people of Fort McMurray and the Wood
Buffalo
region are once again suffering the consequences of spring
flooding due to the refusal of the private interests which
control governments to build in a manner that brings spring
flooding under the control of human beings.[1] This year's
flooding comes when many in Fort McMurray have yet to
overcome the damages from the 2016 wildfires which forced
the evacuation of the entire city, with 2,400 homes and buildings
destroyed and another 2,000 people displaced because their homes
were unsafe. Since the oil price crash in 2014, close to one in
10 jobs in the oil sands has been eliminated despite increased
production. The pandemic has now severely cut demand for oil at a
time when contention among the imperialists in the energy sector
has become increasingly sharp. Now the workers and small
businesses in Fort McMurray must deal with the
destruction left behind by a devastating flood.
 Working people
should stand with the hard-working people of
Fort McMurray and region, who have once again been left to fend
for themselves by governments that serve private interests.
Fort McMurray is located at the confluence of the
Athabasca
and Clearwater Rivers. On April 26, a massive ice jam in the
Athabasca River caused the Clearwater River to reverse course,
overflow its banks and flood Fort McMurray's downtown and several
surrounding neighbourhoods. Over 13,000 people were immediately
evacuated from their homes. Four hundred and fifty people were
evacuated from the Fort Vermillion and Tall Cree First Nations
due to flooding of the Peace River in Mackenzie County.
Tragically, a member of the Fort McKay First Nation, located 55
kilometres north of Fort McMurray, died from injuries after being
caught in the floodwaters of the Athabasca River. Thousands of
people were forced from their homes, and about 2,500 are still
living in work camps, hotels and other temporary housing.
This is the second time since 2016 that many residents
of Fort
McMurray have had to deal with either a severely damaged or
destroyed home. Reports indicate that an estimated 1,230
structures have been damaged by the flooding. Many people had
just finished building new homes to replace those destroyed in
the 2016 wildfires. With forest fire season looming, there is
further anxiety about what that might bring.
One week after the flood, Don Scott, Mayor of the
Regional
Municipality of Wood Buffalo, told CBC that without long-term
financial assistance many people will face financial ruin. He
said that most evacuees do not have overland flood insurance,
which is not included in regular home insurance policies.
Homeowners may not be eligible because of a high risk of
flooding, and if they are, the cost is prohibitive, about $10,000
a year. The Mayor called on the federal and provincial
governments to extend disaster relief funding to the close to
13,000 people who have been forced from their homes. At this
point the Alberta government has made one-time payments of $1,250
per adult and $500 per child, to cover some expenses for those
affected by the flood.
Downtown Fort McMurray, including the hospital and
major
grocery stores, are built on a flood plain, as are neighbouring
communities. While many Albertans now have overland flood
insurance and insurers have come out with products over the last five
years, a spokesperson for the Insurance Bureau of Canada said
overland flood insurance is relatively new and this option is
complicated for people who live on flood plains or in high risk
areas.
"Flood insurance there is usually much more
limited or
restricted because the likelihood of flood is so much higher. The
policy would be unaffordable," she said.
All of this begs the question, how in the
21st century is
it not possible to protect towns and communities from flooding
and wild fires if the required attention is paid to where and how
building takes place? Yet once again -- as was the case with the
fires that destroyed their homes in 2016 when homeowners reported
protracted battles with their insurance companies -- those affected
will be fighting for compensation while their expenses and
debts mount. Why is this happening again? Why is this disaster
considered each individual homeowner's responsibility?
The provincial government has announced that it
will make $147
million available from the Disaster Recovery Program. This is a
complete hoax, because the program explicitly excludes damage
from overland flooding on the basis that homeowners can now
obtain insurance to cover such damages. In this cozy arrangement
between insurance companies and the government, the insurance
companies offer a product people cannot afford, and governments
then wash their hands of any responsibility, claiming people
"chose" not to obtain coverage.
The Alberta government has responsibility for
releasing
land in the oil sands region for housing development. Workers in
the region had no say in how Fort McMurray was developed, or in the
decision to build housing on a flood plain, with no consideration
given to flood mitigation or measures to safeguard the
community from wildfires. Governments serve narrow private
interests so they declare that the consequences of their
decisions are not their problem. It exposes the real meaning of
Premier Jason Kenney's praise for the people of Fort McMurray and
other communities as displaying "northern resilience," as if
fending for oneself is a rite of passage to declare oneself
Albertan.
 Ice jams are a
frequent occurrence which raises the legitimate
question why is more not done to mitigate the damage they cause?
They mostly form at locations where the rivers are constricted
such as sharp bends, narrow sections, islands, shallow bars,
bridges, or where a change in the channel bed has formed. How to carry
out preventative measures is a known science. However, the aim of
the economy is not based on taking responsibility to look after
the people and mitigate flooding. Along with the
insurance companies, the Alberta government washes its hands by
declaring such calamities to be "acts of god."
In the same way, governments take no
responsibility for the
immense difficulties facing the working people, including those
of Fort McMurray, or for the consequences of an economy dependent on
providing energy resources to serve U.S. imperialism and its war
machine. Governments refuse to recognize the need for a new
direction for the economy, and instead lash out with warmongering
vitriol against China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela and others so
as to distract attention that the problem lies with their defence
of the rule and control of the global energy oligarchs.
The majority of people in Fort McMurray and region
either work
in the oil sands, or service the oil and gas industry. Their hard
work adds tremendous value to the economy. It is the corporations
that own and control the oil sands and the provincial and federal
governments that enable them that should provide immediate and
adequate living expenses to the evacuees and full immediate
compensation to clean up, repair and rebuild their homes. Whether
we are dealing with floods, fires or economic disaster caused by
the stranglehold of the financial oligarchy pursuing its own
narrow interest, the most important question is, how are we
going to deal with achieving decision-making power so as to
exercise control over the matters that affect our lives?
Note
1. The
Lower
Townsite, Waterways and Ptarmigan Court areas of Fort McMurray
have a long history of flooding. There have been at least 15
notable floods since 1835, 14 of which were due to ice jams.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 18 - May 23, 2020
Article Link:
Avoidable Consequences of
Spring Flooding in
Northern Alberta: Social Irresponsibility Once Again Forces Working People to Suffer Great Losses - Peggy Askin
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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