City of Calgary lends a helping hand

If Canadians know anything, it’s how to unite in the face of crisis.

In 2014 Calgary’s urban forest canopy was devastated by an early and heavy extreme snowstorm, better known as Snowtember. The City appreciated all the support received from outside organizations and municipalities to get through that event and are eager to pay it forward now that our neighbours to the east are facing a similar situation.

Calgary Parks staff will be leaving for Winnipeg Friday, along with aerial trucks and chippers to help with emergency tree removals. All costs will be covered by the City of Winnipeg.

“In 2014 we were very grateful for the assistance from other cities,” says Todd Reichardt, Manager in charge of Urban Forestry at the City of Calgary. “We know firsthand how an event of this magnitude can impact the lives of citizens, and we’re privileged to be in a position where we can provide support and share our learnings to help Winnipeg optimize their response and recovery.”

The City’s Urban Forestry team has been sharing information and practices that were developed out of the snow event Calgary saw in 2014.

On October 11, Winnipeg experienced a significant snowstorm with resulting downed tree branches, power outages and transportation closures. The Province of Manitoba has declared a state of emergency and The City of Winnipeg activated their Emergency Operations Centre.

Similar to The City of Calgary’s September 2014 snowstorm, Winnipeg trees still had a lot of leaves on their branches creating more damage when snow gathered on them.

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