Thursday, June 24, 2010 — THE MEDICINE HAT NEWS


Long process of clean up begins in Irvine


ALEX MCCUAIG amccuaig@medicinehatnews.com


June 21 is the longest day of the year for most Albertans but for Irvine residents beginning the clean-up of the hamlet’s worst fl ood, might be remembered as the longest day of their lives.


Spirits, however, remained high Sunday evening as life in the hamlet started to take on an air of normalcy after Friday’s fl ash fl ood that knocked out both the Trans- Canada and CPR line as well as fl ooding dozens of homes.


In the hard hit Mavista Acres subdivision — south across Highway 1 from Irvine — members of the Wick family have already cleared most of their fl ooded basement.


While on her front lawn swatting away swarming mosquitos, Bonnie Wick explained how Ross Creek fl ooded their neighbourhood in less than an hour Friday morning.


“Our basement was full of water within an inch of the ceiling,” said Wick.


Aside from a puddle from the swollen creek by the bridge leading into the subdivision, Wick said things looked relatively normal at 6:30 a.m. when she went to work.


But a co-worker soon informed her things were taking a turn for the worse.


A call to the home an hour after she left confi rmed the news as her husband was woken by a window breaking from water rushing into the house he was soon forced to leave.


While some of the homes in the neighbourhood managed to avoid heavy damage, for Andy Oakes the cost of lost property and repairs is in the tens of thousands of dollars.


“It was the sewer backing up. That’s what our problem was,” said Oakes as he surveyed the damage to his garage.


“By 7 a.m. there was no water and 15 minutes later it was right up to the road and that’s how quick it came.”


A somewhat frustrated Oakes said he didn’t understand why a warning wasn’t issued sooner but commended the aid given by the Red Cross.


Standing in front of the Irvine Hotel as Bob Seger’s "Like A Rock" played on the jukebox, Susan Thompson said the town is already planning a benefi t for those hardest hit by the fl ood.


“We’re going to keep going. This town goes, man. We help each other out, we dig in and do everything we can.”


9 Cypress County News photo Ian Sorensen


Large swaths of land in Cypress County were covered by the fl ood waters Saturday.


KEN GOUSSEAU kgousseau@medicinehatnews.com


Farmers and ranchers in Cypress County who were already suffering misfortunes before the fl ood disaster hit are appealing to the province for assistance as they pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.


Jared Roth not only lost nearly everything he owned in the fl ood, he almost lost his life.


The truck the Irvine-area cattle rancher was driving in was swept off the road and down an embankment by the surge of fl ood water that washed out roads around Mavista Acres on Friday.


News Photo Alex McCuaig


Three generations of the Wick family pitch in during the clean up of their home in Irvine's Vista Acres subdivision after it was fl ooded Friday morning


Loss, close calls for Cypress County residents


JAMIE RIEGER Cypress Courier


As the fl ood waters rose on June 18, farmers throughout Cypress County scrambled to get their livestock and other animals to higher ground. For some, like niche farmer, Don Wong who operates a saskatoon farm on the west side of Highway 41 South, he not only lost his crops, but his prized exotic birds, as well.


"I was up at 4:50 in the morning and the water was about 50 feet from the house. I went and put about 140 of my pheasants in the car garage, thinking they would be safe there," said Wong, who raises exotic peacocks, as well as oriental and golden pheasants.


"By then, the water was really starting to some up. I had neighbours come to help and we went and got as much stuff out as we could. By then, we could not get out the front door, so we had to get out through a back window and the water was up to our chests. The water was going over the chest waders," he said.


Wong was hoping to go back in to his property over the weekend with a pump and a bobcat and determine how much damage his property sustained.


On Hune 19, Brad Betcker, who operates T Bar Cattle Company, saw the Seven Persons Creek burst its banks and rushed to rescue 400 head of cattle. Betcker rounded up 20 people who helped him get his cattle to safe ground.


"I almost lost 400 head. I had to force them into the water and force them to swim across the water. There was no warning that they were going to release water from Murray Dam, but they had to do it because if the dam burst, the situation would have been a lot worse," said Betcker.


"It usually fl ows at 220 cubic meters per second and they increased it to 750 cubic meters. The SMRID (St. Mary's River Irrigation District) had to dump some water out of Murray Dam to keep the dam from breaking," he added.


Betcker, who is also a Cypress County councillor, said on Tuesday morning that the fl ooding has gone down in his area and if the SMRID releases more water out of Murray Dam, he does not expect more fl ooding.


“Water started coming in and it was up to the seats in the truck and I fi gured I’ve got to get out,” Roth said in an interview June 20. “I got out and stood on the roof and the truck started to move again so I had to jump into the water.”


Roth managed to swim over to some trees, where he clung on for dear life until he was saved by the Medicine Hat Fire Services Aquatics Rescue Team.


Meanwhile, Roth’s girlfriend Chantel Gallant was stranded at their home for eight hours as fl ood water engulfed their property. She was later rescued by a helicopter.


Curtis Vossler, another cattle rancher from Irvine, and his family escaped the fl ood on Friday by literally swimming from the front door of their home to their vehicle.


“It sounded like you were standing underneath a waterfall,” Vossler said.


The water fl ooded Vossler’s basement and destroyed three farm buildings and a garage on his property.


The family of ranchers are worried about what the future holds, Vossler says.


“Things were tight before and now we’ve got a whole house to put back together,” he said. “If there’s no assistance for what happened here, I don’t know what we’re going to do.”


Vossler’s sister-in-law Janel considered herself fortunate. Only a small amount of water seeped into the basement of her home north of Elkwater.


Many of her neighbours weren’t so lucky, however.


“We’ve been all around and it’s just sickening to see all of our neighbours' houses under water,” Janel said.


The grain and canola her family planted were completely wiped out by the fl ood, along with countless other crops across the county.


The biggest question farmers and ranchers in the county have is when will government compensation come?


“There’s a lot of guys that were just fi ghting to make it through as it was (before the fl ood),” Roth noted. “Without some assistance, we are literally up the creek.”


Misfortune strikes in


Residents begin cleaning up after fl ood MARCIA LOVE


The sound of sump pumps could be heard all around Maple Creek, Sask on the weekend as residents drained fl ooded basements and assessed damage done by last week’s fl ood.


Roxanne Wong said she wouldn't have believed the damage done to her home if she hadn't seen it.


“The (ground and basement) levels are just soaked from end to end,” she explained of her Harrigan Crescent house. “We waded through knee- deep water at about 8 p.m. Friday night. In the back alley, the water was running like a river.”


Wong said the water was fl owing into her basement so strong it took the door off her cold storage room.


Sunny Barroby was in Cypress Hills when his house on Highway 21 in town was fl ooded.


“I couldn't get back here until that afternoon because of the roads,” he said. “I've been (in Maple Creek) since 1956. I don't think anybody here has seen anything like this in history.”


At Willowbend Campground, large pools of water still remain. Darcy Chmilar, owner of the campground, said most of the trailers are complete write-offs.


“All of the trailers had at least four feet of water in them,” he stated. “There are six trailers that aren't where they used to be.”


He said his house at the campground sustained even more damage.


“We had fi ve feet of water in our house. Our whole bottom level is just trashed,” he explained. “There's half an inch of mud lying all over the place. In our kitchen and living room, nothing is where it was before.”


Doug Johnson, director of basin operations at the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, said last week’s fl ow produced record fl ood levels.


“The fl ows were the highest that we've ever seen in Maple Creek,” he stated. “We’re anticipating there will not be any more problems with the fl ow or fl ooding. It’s basically a clean-up situation.”


Maple Creek Hospital was not fl ooded and was open on June 19. There were nine patients — eight of which were in-patients — at the hospital when it was evacuated. Four patients were sent home, while three were moved to Cypress Lodge and two — one of which was in emergency in Maple Creek — to the Cypress Regional Hospital in Swift Current. The patients returned to Maple Creek Hospital on the weekend.


The Emergency Medical Services headquarters received some water damage. Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park was re-opened on June 19. Park staff continue to survey the situation there.


Water damage to homes in Maple Creek was not limited to the fl ood's path.


“There are people all over town with fl ooded basements,” Mayor Barry Rudd noted. “It didn't matter where they lived. It all depended on which way the water ran.”


Rudd said the most unfortunate part of the situation is many residents won't be covered for fl ooding by insurance.


“The big thing right now is to take pictures of the damage and document it,” he explained.


Rudd hopes the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP), which provides support to those who incur substantial damage to essential and uninsurable property, will allow some fi nancial aid to the community.


“We have volunteers going door-to-door and assessing,” Rudd said. “We want to get a grasp of how many basements are fl ooded and how many people need help.”


As residents continue to assess the damage and clean up, Rudd said the outpouring of support from surrounding communities is amazing.


“It makes us feel a lot more secure when we know that we have neighbours like that,” he said. “That's what made Saskatchewan. When there's a crisis, the agencies and the people are there to help.”


Rudd said it will take at least a week to get a read on the number of damaged homes and businesses.


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