Five years later, memories of the 2013 flood are still vivid, but Calgary is working hard to make the next one less memorable.

"When I got involved five years ago, I thought the City would be further along than they are now, but we have to appreciate that a ton of work has been done around flood mitigation," said Tony Morris, co-president of the Calgary River Communities Action Group. The grassroots organization advocates for upstream mitigation to protect thousands of homeowners across Calgary.

Former CREB® president Becky Walters remembers how communities rallied in following natural disaster in 2013

Becky Walters remembers 2013 like most Calgarians do – one equally fraught with harrowing tales of devastation and inspiring stories of community spirit following a historic flood that left many communities underwater.

In June 2013, Alberta experienced heavy rainfall that sparked 32 states of local emergency in communities throughout southern Alberta and resulted in billions of dollars in insurable damages.

"It was something that affected the whole city, of course," said Walters, who, six months earlier, had become president of CREB®.

New program launches to help Calgary businesses with disaster resiliency

Recent tornado warnings, several thunderstorm watches and the wrath that Mother Nature has been trowing at southern Albertans as of late is reinforcing a new joint initiative from the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) and the Calgary Chamber of Commerce that aims to help local businesses prepare for emergencies and disasters.

This summer, CEMA staff will be visiting local businesses with information about how they can make their businesses more resilient. CEMA will distribute its brochure "Is your business prepared?" with supplemental information from the Chamber.

"Whether it was the floods of 2013, the 'Snowtember' tree event, or the downtown power outage of this past year, it has become clear that all Calgary businesses need to be prepared to be resilient in case of business interruptions or disasters," said Chamber president and CEO Adam Legge.

When it comes to natural disasters, know the risks to your home – and how to mitigate their impacts

In the insurance industry, it's commonly referred to as CAT season, short for catastrophic — that all-too familiar time of the year when hail, rain, fire and brimstone wreaks havoc on our homes.

While the June 2013 floods provided perhaps the most extreme example, every year has been littered with examples — hail that leveled half of Airdrie in 2015, forest fires in northern Alberta in 2011 and so on.

And every year, insurance companies are in the news as homeowners lament that the most recent damage won't be covered by their current policies.