Peter O'Leary P.Geol.’s Post

🇨🇦Calgarians are irrate as the City of Calgary says 5 more weeks to fix water main break!🇨🇦 🇨🇦Whether through negligence or incompetence, the City of Calgary will now be responsible for businesses large & small having catastrophic financial losses due to this issue. 🇨🇦Nancy Mackay, Calgary's water services director said today: "If we were to complete current repairs and restore the water feeder main now, it would be at high risk of additional catastrophic breaks.” 🇨🇦"With today's situation, we are now contacting some customers to ask them to stop some operations and some activities if we need to. The city has the ability to turn off water to a business if they are not complying with that ask. This would be a last resort and one we are prepared to take if need be." 🇨🇦What’s clear is that the City of Calgary is out of its league dealing with this issue and they must bring in a new team to deal with this in a timely manner. Whether that be military engineers or experts from private firms. *Source: CBC News - June 14, 2024 #YYC #Calgary #WaterMainBreak

Reading this reflecting on how many regions face an over-reliance on grey infrastructure that misses the holistic ecosystem services provided by nature-based solutions. A sponge city - or land designed to soak up the rain where it fall with vegetation and rain catchment - builds climate resilience while restoring ecosystems that provide us with benefits like: increased air, water and soil quality, nutrient retention, carbon sequestration, habitat, biodiversity, urban cooling, not to mention the mental health benefits of a walk in the park. As Kennedy Halvorson says: "So why not explore the feasibility of an ecological option? Substantial research has shown that implementing ecological restoration practices upstream, such as replanting riparian habitat, adding large wood and rock features, re-meandering and reopening stream channels, and restoring and retaining floodplains, wetlands, forests and beavers on the landscape are incredibly effective strategies for absorbing water and slow flows, mitigating effects downstream. Protecting and investing in native ecosystems increases the landscape’s functional storage of water without the need for new dams and reservoirs."

Did you know that Alberta’s hailstorm alley, which stretches from High River north to Red Deer, is home to the two costliest hail events in Canadian history? Learn easy steps you can take to protect your Alberta property from hail damage, as well as additional measures that require more of an investment: https://loom.ly/iqCLzmY

New Port Richey adopts higher floodplain standards for new manufactured home placements, to 1 foot above BFE. The move was motivated by a desire to get a higher CRS rating: https://lnkd.in/dcGR7SJ2

The Jasper wildfires could cause up to $700 million in insured damages...after preliminary estimates show approximately 30% of the structures in the Alberta resort town were destroyed. That would make the Jasper wildfires one of the most expensive in Canadian history. https://lnkd.in/gXjRsJhA #InsuranceBroker #CommercialInsurance #BusinessInsurance

The importance of disclosures is paramount. It is CRITICAL that all disclosures, including the new flood disclosure that went into effect March 20, 2024. If you are in the real estate industry and are unaware of this disclosure, NOW is the time to head to njpropertydisclosure.com 👈

In Newfoundland 🇨🇦 tonight residents in Happy Valley-Goose Bay under state of emergency due to uncontrolled fire, explosion expected Happy Valley-Goose Bay RCMP is informing residents of the town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay and the Canadian Forces Base in Happy Valley-Goose Bay of an uncontrolled fire in the area. The fire has spread to an area containing explosive material and an explosion is expected. The Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay has declared a state of emergency. The following streets are directly impacted at this time: • Halifax Street • Toronto Street • Winnipeg Street • Ottawa Avenue • London Street Residents are asked remain at least a kilometer away from the area which can be described as from the end of the airport to the docks, while efforts to extinguish the blaze are underway. In the interest of public safety, home owners are strongly encouraged not to attend their properties at this time. Happy Valley-Goose Bay RCMP thanks the public for their cooperation. Updates will follow as available.

LONDON TO BE EVACUATED DUE TO SUBSIDENCE RISK SAYS REPORT Lets try and unpick the London to be devastated by subsidence damage storyline: 1. We have had huge surges in summer heat and low rainfall in 1990 (the base year for BGS wasn't a base year for damage at all it was a huge hot surge year) in 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2006, 2018, 2022 - all of these years were at the forecasted upper range for annual summers 2070 - they were the past modelling the forecast future. 2. With 9 summers modelling 2070 since 1990 none of them got to 4.3% damage never mind 43%. 3. In that time a typical family home in the worst subsidence affected postcodes have increased from £84'000 to £508'000 suggesting property and people want to live in London with a few cracks. So if there is lots of clay in London and loads of big forest trees and all the property is old and substandard! Where are all the claims ? It seems that our best strategy is build poor housing with rubbish foundations, plant huge trees nearby, break all the drains and house prices increase faster than anywhere else... #subsidence #claims #property #dontpanic

Many homeowners aren't aware of subsidence issues until it's time to sell their house. This often leads to unexpected delays and added stress during the selling process. Subsidence, often caused by factors like liquefaction or poor design, can affect homes in various parts of the country, not just earthquake-prone areas. Many residential areas in New Zealand are built on low-lying flood plains, making it crucial for homeowners to be proactive in detecting signs of subsidence. So, what should you look out for? Read our latest article to learn more about identifying and addressing subsidence issues: https://lnkd.in/gFHjwAwe

The August edition of the Australian Commercial Property Loss Database highlights a very active month for losses The hospitality industry is back on the list with a country hotel in QLD and a country bowling cub in Victoria being destroyed Losses at tobacconists have now reached systemic proportions. Since October 2023, there have been over 97 major losses . The Coal Mine fire in QLD ceased burning in early August after 1 month Fires in the chemical industry in Melbourne have caused such a concern that an interest group has been established by local residents. The pollution from these losses has caused significant damage and over $10m being spent on remediation. The agri industry saw 2 large farm homestead fires during August. Tasmania made the list this mth with a Hungry Jacks store being devastated. Contingent business interruption losses featured with a month long legionella outbreak in Melbourne and a gas pipeline rupture in QLD . For any loss updates, or to subscribe to the monthly updates, please email [email protected] , or via the attached link https://lnkd.in/gHHVnZJx . The provision of this database is proudly supported by Howden Re. Dowload the August list here     https://lnkd.in/gXknKX2K