In 2013, a home known as The Art Wall brought the town of High River, Alta., hope in its darkest days.
Owner Jerry Shiel hung art salvaged from the flood on his waterlogged home. It had to be demolished but he rebuilt it and nine years later, he kept some of those treasures.
“I put the art back up for a positive reason and to lift up the spirits,” Shiel said.
As rain continued to pour on Tuesday, Shiel said he is reassured and not anxious about a repeat flood.
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“I look at this rain and see showers of blessings, and I don’t want to be disrespectful, because I know some people are fearful,” he said. “But for myself, it’s showers of blessings.”
But officials with the town aren’t naive. Despite being the most well-protected community in the country, according to Mayor Craig Snodgrass, High River officials are monitoring the Highwood River’s water levels closely.
“The emotions are still raw in this town,” Snodgrass said. “I don’t care how far past we are from the flood, we can never be complacent just because we’ve got a bunch of infrastructure in play.
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“Never ever fall asleep on these rivers.”
Snodgrass said the river is currently flowing at 200 cubic metres per second, “and we have mitigation to protect us from 3,000 cubic metres per second, so we are not even close.
“Two-hundred cubic metres per second doesn’t even start to tickle levels prior to 2013.”
According to fire chief Cody Zebedee, the town initiated a low-level emergency operations centre as a precaution.
“It’s just a basic kind of skeleton crew with planning and operation as well as our command staff,” Zebedee said.
Jamie Lea and Owen Tipton live just steps from the Highwood River. Their basement had to be gutted in 2013, but they stayed and persevered and are now protected by a berm several kilometres long.
“Initially it was nerve-wracking, but now, having it been nine years, I feel at peace with what the town has put into it with mitigations,” Jamie Lea said.
The floods did define this community with camaraderie and resiliency that will help people who live there navigate the rising waters, together.
“One of the biggest things that got the town through the flood was the people,” Owen said. “The people were in there, like, slugging through the mud — and they just got it done.
“What we learned is to do everything you can and handle things yourself. Don’t sit around and wait for the institutions to take care of you.”
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