After working against the damages brought by the floods in southern Alberta, communities are beginning to recover. In towns like Drumheller, and Sundre, evacuation orders have been lifted and phone lines and homes are now under repair but many Albertans were still displaced from their homes as of late last week.
In response to the damages brought on by the flooding in southern Alberta, communities in the Lakeland are pitching in and making an effort to support fellow Albertans.
One of these means of support came from the St. Paul Co-op. For every litre of gas purchased on June 26, two cents were donated to the Canadian Red Cross.
“The money will be used for supplies, for food for volunteers, for everything involved with the cleanup,” explains Graham Getz, General Manager of the St. Paul Co-op. “The devastation people down south are facing is horrible, because of the flooding. With this promotion our community members and employees can show them we’re thinking of them, and looking to help.”
He continues saying, “I think the Co-op wants to help by principle, but not only that. If a situation like that happened to us, I’d hope our neighbors to the south would help us. We have sister Co-ops and a lot of other members who are going through that devastation right now. By supporting them we can step up, show we are true community leader.”
St. Paul Servus Credit Union held a barbecue on June 28 to support the Red Cross flood relief program. Hotdogs, popcorn, and pop were available at the event that ran from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“It’s been pretty successful so far. The barbecue as of this morning has already raised $7,110,” says Sheri Phillips, supervisor of member services with Servus, and a coordinator of the event.
She adds, “A lot of that money was just members donating, knowing it was for the floor relief effort. We often do barbecues like this for fundraisers. We always like to give back, and be involved with the community because we’re a cooperative – not just some big bank. This is important to us, because everyone knows someone affected by the flooding.”
A number of pick-up trucks were also loaded with donations and driven to a number of communities in southern Alberta from the St. Paul and Saddle Lake areas last week.
In addition, B&R Eckels and Scorpions Industries donated trailers and drivers to take the donations from the Bonnvyille area to wherever they were needed.
Three 50-foot trailers packed with water, canned good, clothes, toiletries, baby food, dog food, first aid kits and other essentials were sent to several small communities in southern Albeta. The first truck went to Siksika and the second truck to Morely.
According to information received from the province on Friday morning, water conservation and boil orders are in effect in Black Diamond, and Redwood Meadows. Meanwhile, water is safe and treatment is functional in Drumheller, and Turner Valley.
Alberta Transportation is working on assessing the most problematic areas of the rail bridge in Calgary that collapsed on Thursday morning, seeing where the damage is worst, so that repairs can begin as quickly as possible.
The sheet river is back to its regular channel, and work is being done to restore the highway between Black Diamond and Turner Valley. Another section of road under repair is Highway 1 in the Canmore area – a high priority has been allotted to getting it restored because it is an important commercial route between Alberta and B.C.
The community of High River remains almost completely evacuated with an estimated 13,000 people displaced from their homes. Workers are still pumping away the standing water, working to make the community accessible. Around 1,600 people are still evacuated in Calgary and 1,400 people from various First Nations communities are estimated to still be displaced from their homes.
