Flood 2013: When Leaders Emerged and Risk Management Evolved at the University of Calgary

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/rmir.12035
• Date: 01 March 2015
• Published date: 01 March 2015

Risk Management and Insurance Review

C

Risk Management and Insurance Review, 2015, Vol.18, No. 1, 143-159

DOI: 10.1111/rmir.12035

FLOOD 2013: WHEN LEADERS EMERGED AND RISK

MANAGEMENT EVOLVED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

Norma Nielson

ABSTRACT

This article, organized as a teaching case, relates a small portion of the story that

emerged when 2013 brought Calgary the most severe floods in living memory.

The article first provides the reader with a bit of background on the topography,

hydrology, and general risk exposure of the Bow River Valley in general and

Calgary in particular. The next section provides some detail about The Univer-

sity of Calgary and its risk management structure. The article then looks at the

Flood of 2013, describing the extent and phases of the disaster and the biggest

challenges faced at the University. The article illustrates how important risk

management processes can be even when an organization does not experience

a disaster. The article concludes with a set of questions and answers that can be

used to structure either a written assignment or an in-class discussion. The key

lessons that emerged for risk managers are presented in the answers to those

questions.

On June 19, 2013, Jake Gebert had been in Edmonton for the day and came back late.

As he drove by the river that bisects his home city of Calgary, he remembers thinking,

“There is something really going on in this city.” He phoned Dru Marshall “early, early,

on in the morning, and that is where it started, and then we called the CMT”—the Crisis

Management Team. “We had that set up probably within 15 minutes or a half hour after

we had the initial discussion.” A lot of members of the CMT lived on the south side of the

Bow River, which meant that when the bridges were closed for the first day of the crisis,

Norma Nielson holds the Chair in Insurance and Risk Management at the Haskayne School of

Business, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada;

phone: 403-220-8596; e-mail:Norma.nielson@haskayne.ucalgary.ca. The author would like to

thank the Canadian Centre for Advanced Leadership in Business (CCAL) for sponsoring the

development of this case. The author would like to acknowledge the contribution of these

individuals, both for their efforts in managing the University during the flood and for their will-

ingness to generously share their experiences to develop this case: Rae Ann Aldridge, Executive

Director, Risk and Director, Environment Health and Safety; Randy Maus, Director, Residence

Services; member of EOG on the operations section; Steven Gasser, Associate VicePresident, Fa-

cilities Management; Jonathan (Jake) Gebert, Vice-President, Finance and Services; Robert (Bob)

Maber,Manager, Emergency Management; Julie Punt, Health and Safety Program Administrator;

Janet Stein, Director, Risk Management and Insurance.

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144 RISK MANAGEMENT AND INSURANCE REVIEW

FIGURE 1

Calgary’s Watershed

Source: City of Calgary.

nobody was actually on campus. “We were actually doing this . .. all by telephone.”

That Crisis Management Team meeting continued for 4 or 5 days.

BACKGROUND

Calgary, Alberta, is the only large city in Canada located at the confluence of two

mountain rivers. In 2013 heavy rains and mountain snow melt from mid-May to mid-July

combined with steep, rocky topography and limited lake and reservoir storage to make

the Bow and Elbow watersheds vulnerable to rapid and intense flooding (see Figure 1).

Provincial and City watershed management systems succeeded dramatically reducing

the flood waters from a 1-in-500-year flood event above the Glenmore Reservoir to a

1-in-100-year event when the rivers reached the City of Calgary. Still the water flowed

through the center of the city at a rate comparable to that of Niagara Falls.

Furthermore, the possibility of aid from nearby communities was virtually nonexistent

because of the widespread nature of the flooding. As Figure 2, the city of Calgary was

at the heart of a disaster area that spread approximately 100 miles in every direction.

Across the province of Alberta, the flood resulted in the loss of five lives, and over

$6 billion in damages to public and private property. Those who were evacuated and

whose homes were flooded faced immeasurable trauma and loss, and the challenge of

rebuilding or the permanent loss of their home.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

The University of Calgary’s (U of C) main campus is situated in Northwest Calgary a few

kilometers from downtown. It is located in the upper left corner of the map inserted as

Figure 3, but most importantly,it is located 48 meters above the river at its nearest point.

For the most part, that elevation protected the University’s property from directdamage.