Stephen Harper said as an Albertan, he never imagined there could be a flood of such magnitude in this part of Canada.

via Calgary floods: Residents grapple with devastation in Alberta | Canada | News | National Post.

As Prime Minister, Stephen Harper shouldn’t just have imagined such a scenario, he should have been preparing for it.

University and government scientists in Calgary showed 6 years ago that “spring time flooding due to expected increases in precipitation during the month of May can nearly double flood peaks.” More than a decade ago, another University of Calgary scientist projected “the mean annual flood on the study watershed would increase by almost 80% and the 100-year flood would increase by 41%.”

Perhaps if Harper listened to scientists instead of muzzling them we could rely on science instead of his clearly deficient imagination to plan for natural disasters.