UPDATE: Late Tuesday evening, Darwin Durnie with High River’s Emergency Operating Centre sent out the following statement in regards to his comment, which caused outrage in the town’s Hampton Hills neighbourhood.
“Last Friday night in a private meeting with residents, I answered a question about the impact of emergency efforts in the Hampton Hills neighbourhood in a manner that has shifted the focus from the recovery of High River.
In speaking at the meeting, my aim was simply to arm people with information that would allow them to work with government and insurance advisors to rebuild their lives. I regret creating this distraction and I sincerely hope that, tomorrow, we can continue to focus on our reconstruction efforts.
I’m unhappy with my choice of words because I can’t stress enough how important it is for everyone to get on with the recovery in High River.”
A video has emerged in which residents asks a High River official about a berm that was built next to their Hampton Hills neighbourhood. They claim it caused excessive flood damage to their houses. In the video, Darwin Durnie, with the town’s Emergency Operating Centre, then says that the neighbourhood was sacrificed to save others.
“To me an admission like that, the government is responsible for what they did to each and every one of us in Hampton Hills,” said Deborah Huisman. “It’s time to fess up to come clean, and put offers on the table for us…quit all this bureaucracy..it’s like they are playing a game.”
Some Hamptons residents also claim the town of High River pumped water from the nearby Sunrise neighbourhood into their community, creating even more flood damage. Town officials deny that the decision made much difference, though.
“A rather smaller pump was used to pump water from the Sunrise area over into Hamptons area, where there were pumps pumping at the rate of 60,000 gallons a minute,” said High River engineering director Albert Flootman. “It’s kind of a straw compared to a fire hose, so it was the only way to transfer that water over and get it out of Sunrise as well. But the contribution from Sunrise was negligible compared to what was leaving the Hamptons at that point.”
In response to the video, and the words chosen by a contracted engineer to describe a situation in Hampton Hills, Associate Minister Rick Fraser issued the following statement Tuesday night:
“The June floods were the worst in our province’s history — they impacted High River in a way no one could have imagined. From the very first moments, the government of Alberta did everything we could to ensure the people of High River were safe and that we protected the community. The comments I heard in the video were made by a contractor who used unfortunate words to describe a situation. Those words do not reflect the government’s views. The people of Hampton Hills need to know that we’re here for them and will continue to stand with them as they seek to restore their lives. I’m happy to hear from the Mayor of High River that two-thirds of Hampton Hills residents are back home and are actively working to make repairs. I know this is not an easy process, but we’re going to rebuild together.”
About 50 frustrated High River flood victims gathered at Premier Alison Redford’s Calgary office on Monday, holding signs and voicing their concerns over the province’s plan to help those impacted by flooding. Some Hamptons homeowners are demanding the government buy them out. Instead, the government is offering to rebuild their homes.
“We just want closure, we just want something done,” said Jerry Huisman.
Minister of Municipal Affairs Doug Griffiths says he sympathizes with flood victims, but adds that walking away from the homes is just not realistic.
“Frankly, lots of the homes can be remediated or repaired. Those that can’t can be rebuilt. And if we go through the process of cleaning up the homes and finding out they can be repaired or rebuilding, then it will be their option on whether or not they want to sell that property and move out.”
Alberta’s Wildrose leader, who is a High River resident, is now calling for a public inquiry into how the flooding in High River was handled.
“To have been told essentially they were sacrificed to be able to save other homes in the rest of town just adds insult to injury,” Danielle Smith said. “And I think the government would be well advised to deal with them fairly. Allow them the opportunity to give them a payout so they can either choose to build in High River or elsewhere, so they can get on with their lives.”
Griffiths says that the government is in the process of looking at longer-term solution to see if communities can be better protected from a situation like this if it occurs again in the future – something he doesn’t believe would happen.
The Auditor General, meanwhile, says he will audit the province’s flood mitigation efforts.
With files from Nancy Hixt, Global News
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