Although it has been more than one week since floodwaters submerged homes and cascaded onto major roadways in southern Alberta, the damage and devastation for many isn’t over yet.
Rivers may be receding to levels reminiscent of the flood in 2005, but more than 100,000 people forced from their homes in areas from Canmore to Calgary to High River just want to get back to their lives.
To help restore a sense of normalcy, local Mounties and members of the Canadian Forces have been deployed to aid in activities from search and rescue to safeguarding evacuated areas.
Cpl. Laurel Kading with the St. Albert RCMP has been on the ground working at a Calgary detachment since June 21. She said the amount of work required to organize disaster relief and address the flooding itself is truly amazing.
“On a personal level, I would say it’s draining. It’s draining for all officers because we have a professional job to do, but of course we’re all human,” she admitted.
“When you’re hearing about people that left with really nothing … they haven’t had access to a shower since last Wednesday, you feel for them.”
Kading described the situation in High River, one of the hardest hit communities, as a “huge disaster” where large portions of the town are still submerged. As of press time on Friday, High River was still under a local state of emergency with mandatory evacuation orders in place.
St. Albert RCMP officers have been involved in search and rescue as part of the strategic tactical operations team, traffic control, communications, as well as property security to ensure residents do not return to their homes, which are still considered to be dangerous.
“Last week we had a sinkhole open up on a road that was thought to be safe. If the town had let people back in, that could’ve led to injuries or deaths. The problem is we’re dealing with a number of hazards,” said Kading.
She described seeing her colleagues wearing respirators while patrolling the evacuated grounds, as sewage has contaminated the brown silt-filled water.
This is not your typical flood, she said.
Joining the RCMP, the Canadian Forces have deployed more than 2,000 army, navy and air force personnel for the relief efforts down south. At least 1,800 members were from the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) in Edmonton.
“We helped with anything and everything,” said Fraser Logan, spokesman for CFB Edmonton. “Essentially in the first 24 to 48 hours it was search and rescue. Life and limb, people’s lives were at stake.”
The majority of troops returned to Edmonton Thursday, but a handful of specialists including environmental officers and engineers remain behind to continue with clean-up and remediation.
“As our commander said, this is the home game, this is a no-fail mission,” stated Logan. “Everyone is going to move in, with the greatest intent to do whatever is possible with whatever capabilities we have.”
St. Albert Fire Services has also spared their one and only fire safety codes officer to help inspect more than 3,000 properties in Medicine Hat before the power can be turned back on.
Donations for flood victims are being accepted by the Red Cross at www.redcross.ca or call toll-free 1-800-418-1111.
