# Calgary Storm Damage Report



## YYCHM (Jun 14, 2020)

NE Calgary

West side house vinyl siding shot full of holes.  Will need to be replaced.
West side of travel trailer trashed.  Looks like someone took a hammer to it.
Trailer propane cover trashed.  Will need to be replaced
Trailer bomb proof roof vent outer cover trashed along with the inner cover.  Will need to be replaced.
Yard security light solar panel smashed.  Don't know if it still works or not.
Both vehicles hail damaged AGAIN.

So much water pooled up against the house it came within 1/2" of flooding through a basement window.  It didn't thank god.

How did the rest of you make out?

Craig


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## Hruul (Jun 14, 2020)

Wow, sorry to here that Craig.  I was just going to post and ask how everyone made out, out there.


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## Brent H (Jun 14, 2020)

Holy Smokes!

I will have to check on my brothers - that is crazy!!  Didn’t know you guys got pounded.  

hope all the people are ok!  Sorry to hear about your damage Craig


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## CalgaryPT (Jun 14, 2020)

So sorry to hear this Craig. It's usually us NW guys who get slammed with hail. Last year we had to replace a bunch of siding too after a storm. Check the reviews of repair guys; we had a bad experience with the company we used.


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## DPittman (Jun 14, 2020)

Sorry guys for your damage.  Hail storms and flooding damage is so discouraging and hard to take.  Ive had two big ones myself ( but neither as bad as yours last night) and you can still see the effects of the damage around my house and yard from 10 years ago.  As horrible as it all is, all I have to do is read some news and then I don't feel so bad about my situation.  
Hang in there folks.


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## YYCHM (Jun 14, 2020)

Lot's of images to be googled if you OOT guys are curious.

Luck of the draw I guess.  The last big one trashed Airdrie but missed Calgary.  Well.... it missed NE Calgary for the most part that is.


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## Johnwa (Jun 14, 2020)

Just a lot of rain south of Glenmore resevoir.


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## Dabbler (Jun 14, 2020)

By Nose hill we got a lot of pea sized and quarter sized hail.  Not quite enough to mess up the siding (thank goodness)


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## kevin.decelles (Jun 14, 2020)

2004 I got wiped out in Langdon. The hail took out siding, man-doors, all 3 vehicles, camper......

Had an adjuster look at it after 4 days and there was still ice under the shingles.

75K is cost to replace all damage...... 

Now that I live south by 6 miles the clouds turn directly over us before hammering Langdon (which got it again yesterday ). Funny how such a small change in location.

Sorry to hear about that Craig , colossal waste of time coming your way




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## CalgaryPT (Jun 14, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> So much water pooled up against the house it came within 1/2" of flooding through a basement window.  It didn't thank god.




Been there...it's no fun. Now that you know this can happen Craig, pick up one of these little utility pumps for around the house, such as dewatering around windows and window wells. They go on sale quite often and are a lifesaver in these downpours. Just attach to a garden hose and you can save an entire basement. Ask me how I know, or why this is my collection of pumps now:


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## Janger (Jun 14, 2020)

Sorry to hear that Craig that's terrible. We have a pump under the basement floor - it does run every few years. I think I should go check it right now...


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## Tom O (Jun 14, 2020)

I’ve lived in Doverglen since 1982 and have never been able to put in a claim. I have to wonder if it is because of the uplifting airflow caused by the surrounding embankment on Deerfoot The birds love it!


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## YYCHM (Jun 14, 2020)

CalgaryPT said:


> Been there...it's no fun. Now that you know this can happen Craig, pick up one of these little utility pumps for around the house, such as dewatering around windows and window wells. They go on sale quite often and are a lifesaver in these downpours. Just attach to a garden hose and you can save an entire basement. Ask me how I know, or why this is my collection of pumps now:



Are those things what they call sump pumps?  You won't zap yourself attempting to plug them in when you're soaking wet?  Would those conditions not simply trip the receptacle GFCI?

I was this close to running the garden hose to the street and attempting to start a siphon.  Once the hail stopped the wife and I were out with snow shovels trying to scoop water any where it would drain away.  Been in this house since 1985 and have never experienced anything like this before.

Craig


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## CalgaryPT (Jun 14, 2020)

The green is a sump pump; it has a float on the side of it that turns the pump on when the water reaches a specific height and off when it falls down again. They are used under basement slabs that flood in low lying areas.

What is more useful in your case is a utility pump like below. They are submersible, safe, and every house should have one that attaches to a garden hose for emergencies like you encountered. Plug them into a ground fault circuit for extra safety.

A trick for window wells or low areas that are muddy or have lots of debris is to get a plastic 5 gallon pail and punch holes in the bottom. Place the pump in the pail, and the pail in the window well. The pail keeps dirt and rocks from entering the pump and clogging it. But most pumps have a screen filter these days anyways.

It's a good investment Craig. They are safe...you won't zap yourself. The motor is above the waterline and sealed.


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## Tom Kitta (Jun 14, 2020)

For some crazy video see this:




__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10163853179715602
			




All I got to say OMG.

No damage so far either at my house which is well covered by trees nor my parents. I was home and called mom to tell her hail about 3cm in size is going hard. She told me nothing here, just rain... about 10 seconds later I hear a scream she hung up. I drove my truck into my front yard to get under tree cover. 

Sorry for the damage, I also live in NE but got lucky, Forest Heights and my parents are in Marlborough Park.


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## Crankit (Jun 14, 2020)

WOW.....that is incredible!


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## Johnwa (Jun 15, 2020)

@YYCHobbyMachinist 
Craig, sorry to hear about the damage.  We got hit about 5 years ago.  Fortunately no vehicle damage.
I got everything but the truck box into the garage.

If theres anything you need help with let me know.

John


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## YYCHM (Jun 15, 2020)

Johnwa said:


> @YYCHobbyMachinist
> Craig, sorry to hear about the damage.  We got hit about 5 years ago.  Fortunately no vehicle damage.
> I got everything but the truck box into the garage.
> 
> ...




Thanks John,

I appreciate the offer.

Craig


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## RobinHood (Jun 15, 2020)

Glad to hear that you are all right.

I know it’s pain in the butt and cost $$s, but all material things are replaceable.


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## YYCHM (Jun 22, 2020)

On sale for $40 tomorrow if anyone needs one.  I'm booting it over there first thing tomorrow.  Was shoveling water again last night.  What's with these storms we are having this year?  An hour+ of sheets of rain.  I extended the down spouts 5' today.


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## historicalarms (Jun 23, 2020)

We got hit by the same storm that hit you Craig only about 2 hrs later. No damage to any of the buildings that I could see but the wifes car looks like we took a ball peen hammer to it for 20 minutes...some golf ball sized stones and they were pure clear ice, non of that cloudy,mushy stuff.


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## YYCHM (Jun 23, 2020)

historicalarms said:


> We got hit by the same storm that hit you Craig only about 2 hrs later. No damage to any of the buildings that I could see but the wifes car looks like we took a ball peen hammer to it for 20 minutes...some golf ball sized stones and they were pure clear ice, non of that cloudy,mushy stuff.



That's the hail we got. Pure clear ice.


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## YYCHM (Jun 23, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> On sale for $40 tomorrow if anyone needs one.  I'm booting it over there first thing tomorrow.  Was shoveling water again last night.  What's with these storms we are having this year?  An hour+ of sheets of rain.  I extended the down spouts 5' today.



Got one of 5 available at the NE store.  There were 4 left as of 10am.


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## CalgaryPT (Jun 23, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> Got one of 5 available at the NE store.  There were 4 left as of 10am.


Good for you. There's always a rush for them after a big storm.

It's pretty inexpensive peace of mind for around the house. I kind of went through this phase 10 years ago where I was buying old pumps and repairing them for fun. Not sure why, maybe because when I was young my dad and I did lots of dewatering on a 1/4 section we owned up in Lacombe. It had a spring on it and flooded all the time. So I guess I learned about them then. We used big gas ones with 3" discharges.

Having said that the ones I use the most now are like what you got. I think I've saved four basements in our block when their window wells filled up. Not sure why the owners don't do what you did. One guy I've pumped out three times. Nice that you got it on sale too. I love PA for stuff like that  During the 2013 flood PA shipped all the pumps they had across the country to Calgary, which was pretty classy in my mind.

Hopefully you will never need it, but I bet you will. Sorry about all your damage; hope the repair cycle isn't too bad.


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## YYCHM (Jun 23, 2020)

People were hauling down spouts out of Rona yesterday 3-4 at a time.  I got the last two.

Were you raised in Lacombe?  My uncle was a shop teacher there for years.  Mostly wood working shop I think.

I guess I had better test this pump out before stashing it away eh?

…… It works.


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## Tom O (Jun 23, 2020)

Tired of stocking up on toilet paper? Try Downspouts!


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## DPittman (Jun 23, 2020)

Tom O said:


> Tired of stocking up on toilet paper? Try Downspouts!


Well the way some people were buying up toilet paper I think they probably could soak up all the water and not need downspouts and pumps.


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## Johnwa (Jun 24, 2020)

@YYCHobbyMachinist 
are you getting another storm?  We got a little bit of pea size hail and about 10 minutes of heavy rain.  it looks pretty dark in the North.


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## YYCHM (Jun 24, 2020)

Johnwa said:


> @YYCHobbyMachinist
> are you getting another storm?  We got a little bit of pea size hail and about 10 minutes of heavy rain.  it looks pretty dark in the North.



Got real dark and rained hard for about 10 minutes, no hail.  Has lighted up now.


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## Dabbler (Jun 24, 2020)

Our rain just finished:  20 minutes, about 6cm in the cup.


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## Tom O (Jun 24, 2020)

Rain with a bit p size hail here


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## YYCHM (Jul 3, 2020)

Today's Project......






Before






After

I figured that was a 2 day project but with the wife driving the wheel barrel and me on the shove we got her done in 8 hours.  That included one trip to Rona for the well and drainage rock and two trips to Lowes to rent a hammer drill.

Craig


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## YYCHM (Jul 6, 2020)

So last night Calgary had a tornado warning and the whole neighborhood was out  on the street watching a big black cloud spewing lightning and  thunder pass over for a good 1/2 hour.  In the end we didn't get a drop of rain out of that beast.  Some where to the NE must have gotten a good dump though.


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## YYCHM (Jul 6, 2020)

Ok, looks like Conrich got dumped on with Loonie size hale and sheets of rain.  That's a 5 minute drive east of us.


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## kevin.decelles (Jul 6, 2020)

it cycled to the north of us.  Awesome display of nature, but unnerving at the same time.  Some of the time-lapsed photography was amazing.


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## YYCHM (Jul 6, 2020)

That's a really awesome Avatar you switched to Kevin(@kevin.decelles ).  Right up there with @Janger 's.


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## YYCHM (Jul 7, 2020)

WOW..... We got off easy.  You should see the residences along Metis Trail near Country Hills BLVD.  They are beat to rat sh.t, many with boarded up windows.


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## David_R8 (Jul 7, 2020)

Years back, circa 1988 I lived in Calgary and we got what I recall was the first big hail storm in decades. I had just moved into a new house and the roof was destroyed. My parents were visiting and their custom built camper looked like it was a driving range target.
The next year our house insurance doubled. The reason given was that the insurance company had to recoup losses from the hail storm. 
I wondered what they'd been doing with all of the money they hadn't paid out in the decades prior.


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## YYCHM (Jul 7, 2020)

I don't recollect one around 1988 but I do remember one 1979/1980 ish that shot holes in all our lawn furniture and smashed the Hibachi grill.  Had a Corvette convertible take refuge on our front lawn under a big tree.  We were renting at the time so an insurance claim wasn't our problem.


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## YYCHM (Jul 8, 2020)

Well..... the house insurance adjuster was just here.  Looks like we need a new roof, siding, gutters and down spouts.

Waiting for the vehicle insurance adjuster now.  Supposed to come today.

Craig


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## CalgaryPT (Jul 8, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> Well..... the house insurance adjuster was just here.  Looks like we need a new roof, siding, gutters and down spouts.
> 
> Waiting for the vehicle insurance adjuster now.  Supposed to come today.
> 
> Craig


Holy cow


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