The Humber is a small river in Toronto where I regularly walk - but not this weekend. The park that borders the Humber was covered with the remains of a huge ice jam, and was basically impassible. It looks like large areas of the park have been erased by the grinding ice. A weird sight.
The ice is filled with bits of the trees it has destroyed:
(https://i.imgur.com/4HlAqJf.jpg)
An ice island, showing the thickness of the ice sheets - in places, 2-3 metres:
(https://i.imgur.com/q1gQYxM.jpg)
Trees ground into pulp by the ice:
(https://i.imgur.com/um7gAbO.jpg)
This was the path down into the park:
(https://i.imgur.com/noAAoiG.jpg)
Remains of the jam piled up against the bridge:
(https://i.imgur.com/kZ2k0bA.jpg)
This used to be a grove or ornamental trees:
(https://i.imgur.com/AZbPOAc.jpg)
The road into the parking lot - now, with warning signs. :lol:
(https://i.imgur.com/8aGmqrC.jpg)
signs aren't bilingual. No pity for the Francos who could wander in a dangerous area :(
It's terrible all the damage ice and water can do. I hope the park is repaired for summer time.
Fortunately for me, there is a very, very small river near me, but it's so low that there is no danger it would ever flood me.
Danger, do not enter - so of course Malthus entered and did all the things the signs said not to do.
But I appreciate the pictures. :D
Malthus's garden in the Spring:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Flooding_of_Humber_River%2C_June_2%2C_1947.jpg)
What a noble and dedicated milk man.
Isn't ice island iceland?
Quote from: crazy canuck on March 25, 2019, 10:32:27 AM
Danger, do not enter - so of course Malthus entered and did all the things the signs said not to do.
But I appreciate the pictures. :D
I like to live dangerously. :D
Though the actual dangers are, in fact, all in the past - of getting caught in the flooding and ice grind. This is just the aftermath.
Quote from: viper37 on March 25, 2019, 09:56:20 AM
signs aren't bilingual. No pity for the Francos who could wander in a dangerous area :(
:D
Heh, in context, the multiple signs are somewhat confusing.
This is the driveway to the parking lot, now covered in ice chunks. One sign says "area closed", does that mean the whole park or the parking lot? Do the signs mean you can't walk in, or can't drive in? The signs say "beware of flooding" and "ice unsafe", but those are clearly very specific warnings that don't apply here. Also, they tell you the walkways are not maintained, so use at own risk.
Quit trying to justify your breaking the sign law warnings, scofflaw.
Quote from: PDH on March 25, 2019, 07:35:52 PM
Quit trying to justify your breaking the sign law warnings, scofflaw.
My sense of adventure got the better of me. :D
What was funny, was that there was the occasional urban dog-walker attempting to take the path, crawling over ice and logs and through mud - it was clearly their usual route, and they weren't going to let a little thing like an ice apocalypse disrupt their routine!
An update: I went back to the park, now that all the ice has long since melted.
The park is a mess, and will be for years I think. The damage the ice tsunami did was pretty spectacular.
View from above:
(https://i.imgur.com/GQM14zi.jpg)
View from the ground, other side:
(https://i.imgur.com/v3UDhET.jpg)
This sign was smashed to the ground & covered with flood debris, which kinda highlights the importance of its message (certainly anyone dumb or unlucky enough to be there at the time would have been killed - as far as I know, no-one was hurt)
(https://i.imgur.com/PTss185.jpg)
These were plaques at a park information kiosk-like area, the tsunami snapped and twisted the metal:
(https://i.imgur.com/tCnVN4P.jpg)
Nature is a stern mistress.
Remind me to avoid the dangerous environment of Toronto, Ontario.
Humber is a dumb name. Ohio is a much better name for a river. :showoff:
Before Hurricane Hazel in the 1950s, there were houses in the Humber valley.
This was, as it turned out, a bad idea.
Hurricane Hazel hit Toronto? Wow. I knew from my dad's stories about his childhood it did tons of damage in upstate Pennsylvania but didn't realize it kept going that much further north.
Quote from: Caliga on May 06, 2019, 03:26:10 PM
Hurricane Hazel hit Toronto? Wow. I knew from my dad's stories about his childhood it did tons of damage in upstate Pennsylvania but didn't realize it kept going that much further north.
It did indeed - and caused huge damage, because it is very rare for hurricanes to make it this far north. No-one was prepared for it. Plus, people had stupidly built houses in the flood plain, with predictable results.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_Hurricane_Hazel_in_Canada
Picture in the Wikipedia entry shows a house floating down the Humber (same river as in my pics).
From the article:
QuoteThe Humber River, located in the west end of the city, caused the most destruction, as a result of an intense flash flood. Located in a glacial trench, the river in some areas occupies the full width of the trench; however, in other areas, most of the trench is a floodplain, which was heavily urbanized and deforested at the time. While some sort of flood control had been proposed for the Humber River, none existed, and with most of the rains running off directly into the river, a flash flood ensued, which was especially exacerbated by the steepness of the river.[13]
The resulting current was so strong that the Toronto Star reported that the police were informed that no boat should be launched in the river, saying that "nothing can make it and anyone in it will be killed for sure".[13] That prediction came true, when a team of five volunteer firefighters were killed when their fire truck was swept away as they were responding to help a stranded motorist.
Quote from: Caliga on May 06, 2019, 02:42:50 PM
Humber is a dumb name. Ohio is a much better name for a river. :showoff:
When I first saw the thread, I thought it was the (no doubt original) Humber just up from me a bit. :sleep:
Quote from: Tonitrus on May 07, 2019, 05:54:26 AM
Quote from: Caliga on May 06, 2019, 02:42:50 PM
Humber is a dumb name. Ohio is a much better name for a river. :showoff:
When I first saw the thread, I thought it was the (no doubt original) Humber just up from me a bit. :sleep:
The funny part is that my whole neighbourhood was designed by a fanatical Anglophile whose avowed intention was to re-create his fantasy vision of "England", in the form of Tudor Revival houses. His name, oddly enough, was Home Smith. Who names their kid "Home"?
QuoteHow do you introduce a completely new approach to selling real estate? For Robert Home Smith, it was no real problem. He came up with a vision of his own "Garden of Eden", then set about to create it. He wanted to build a master community based on the best in England in his own 3000 acre development on the Humber Valley. It's how he achieved this that made all the difference.
He pioneered an innovative approach – putting restrictions on the type and size of buildings which could be constructed in his developments and retaining final approval of all designs. Buyers had to sign 30-year covenants attached to their deeds of sale. Design requirements did not allow much leeway, and the original one page list of requirements soon grew to nearly two pages as Home Smith refined his approach to achieve his goal of "a bit of England, far from England."
http://www.etobicokehistorical.com/robert-home-smith.html
Quote from: Caliga on May 06, 2019, 02:42:50 PM
Humber is a dumb name. Ohio is a much better name for a river. :showoff:
Probably why we don't get ice jams :contract:
Quote from: derspiess on May 07, 2019, 08:17:51 AM
Probably why we don't get ice jams :contract:
I ... don't get it. :(
Quote from: Malthus on May 07, 2019, 08:24:39 AM
Quote from: derspiess on May 07, 2019, 08:17:51 AM
Probably why we don't get ice jams :contract:
I ... don't get it. :(
Oops, thought I was replying to the latest post.
Context for my lame joke added :mellow: