First, flooding forced a couple from Midway, B.C. out of their home.
They spent two days in a hotel. Then they wanted to check and see how their house was holding up.
What they found shocked them — and left them wondering how anyone could lack compassion at a time when people are “down and out already.”
Coverage of B.C. floods on Globalnews.ca:
Midway is a community located between Grand Forks and Osoyoos, two communities that have seen heavy flooding this spring.
The Kettle River flows right through the community — and the water has jumped its banks.
An evacuation order was issued for Midway on May 10 — that’s when the Collins family went to a hotel.
READ MORE: B.C. flooding news Tuesday — Township of Langley issues evacuation alert amid rising water levels
When they returned to their home, they found that looters had taken several items.
That included a riding trailer and gas cans — they had hoped to use the latter with a pump that someone had lent them for their flooded basement.
“I can’t believe somebody would do that to someone that’s down and out already and they’re upset about everything that’s going on in their homes,” Carol Collins told Global News.
“That we don’t have a little compassion and lay off people’s property.
“We’re really upset about that, because I think that’s in the back of everyone’s mind — I’m staying here until the bitter end because we don’t want things disappearing and we can’t take them with us.”
The Collins family is reluctant to leave their home, despite the evacuation order.
They said they won’t leave their personal belongings on higher ground, but lock them in a shed and risk damaging them instead of having them stolen.