Calgary, like many cities, grew from a nucleus near the rivers, hence older parts of the town are on the floodplain. This includes part of the business district, and some of the high-rise condos.

Some very expensive real estate has been flooded, including very expensive housing (median house price in Calgary is $450,000; many of the houses along the Elbow River and some other low-lying developments have homes worth well over $1,000,000.

The insurance costs will run into the billions.