Port closed and railway out

Or the cost of ships waiting off shore while the railways get grain moving again.

Is there much actually leaving Canada right now? Thought most would be going for our own use with supplies as tight as they are. But it will still affect grain prices, and likely fertilizer prices. Not to mention everything else. Pretty sure gas and diesel will be affected.

Transmountain pipeline is turned off.

Heard about the closures, but then it occurred to me that these are not necessarily uncommon. Snow slides and rock slides are not unheard of when putting a railway through some of the most challenging terrain and weather conditions on the planet. So probably a good example of something that needs more info before running around with our hair on fire. Wouldn't be the first time the expert tv reporters said it will be weeks before something is done and a few days later it's business as usual. But then again, if there is a desire to drag things out then this is certainly a good cue to make a short job into a long one.

Yes it sure would be nice if we had a picture from a different angle so we could imagine how it looked before. Maybe someone on the forum is familiar with this can enlighten us.

They certainly have a mess. The usual things come to mind such as there was next to no development in flood plains up until around 1990 or so. And then in recent years we have state of emergencies in place like Quebec, Brandon and BC because, yes, wait for it - flood plains flooded.

So one thing I do these days is when pictures show massive flooding because of extremes due to climate change is to look at the age of the buildings. If I see 100 year old buildings then I tend to consider such flooding to be actually unusual. However what I find often in Canada in regards to pictures of flooding is that the pictures always show newer developments. Like in the last 30 years. And so the first thing we need to ask is why the places in the pictures were not developed 50 to 100 years earlier. If it is such prime real estate then why not build there a long time ago. If you think about what you are seeing then you might take a different path vs what the news is saying. But no doubt the taxpayer will be called on to foot some of the bill. Even though there was a very good reason our grandfathers did not build there.

The rail infrastructure looks bad. But one thing to keep in mind is there are contingency plans for such things. As I recall the railways keep sections of some bridges on hand to enable quick replacement. Plans are on file as to exactly how a destroyed bridge would be replaced because time is important. Now there is also rail beds that have been washed away and could very well be no plans there. But as mentioned, when you build and maintain a railway through one of the most famous mountain ranges in the world I am sure there are not a lot of people scratching their heads and waiting for one guy to come up with a plan. The solutions are known. All that is left is the will to implement them. And this is the problem with the country not being in charge of critical infrastructure. Yes, I will sound like a Socialist but I will think more like an intelligent person would think, or better yet - like our grandparents. And in that regard I tend to think a government looking after the best interests of the country would own its critical infrastructure so that it can respond as needed. And not rely on a private company to move on actions critical to the country.

So true Ken. I don't want to sound bitter, but when it flooded here last summer, there were bigger washouts than some of the pictures I've seen of BC's flood, houses ruined or condemned after the flood, hundred year old houses with water flowing through them for the first time ever, my little village was under water for the first time in it's 150 year history, water running over a major highway for over a mile wide, and miles of railroad tracks washed out, and there was hardly a mention of it in the news. Our RM had all the roads repaired in about a month, all paid for out of the RM's pocket because like anything involving the government, there was red tape everywhere and they were wanting permits for every road repaired, would have taken years to do it there way. They finally did get money to the RM after everything was done. The government is still working on some of the roads that they wanted to fix, at astronomical costs. Everyone thought the rail line would be closed for months because it was so bad. In about a week it was up and running.

I feel sorry for those involved in the flood out there, I know how it feels. My advice, do what needs to be done and leave the government out of it.