Thursday 4 July 2013

One chapter...

This post has nothing to do with DIY and everything to do with one of the scariest days of my life. How this all fits into my DIY obsession will come in a separate post. 

As many of you reading this know, my husband and I were days away from moving into what seemed like our dream home. As previously described, we had found our little piece of heaven in High River Alberta on two lots, in the form of a home built in 1908. We were to take possession on June 21, 2013. 

June 20, started out like any other day. I was taking my little girl to her dayhome in High River and getting prepared to wrap up one of my last weeks at school. As I drove out of town I crossed a bridge and noticed that the water was extremely high. I thought to myself that I shouldn't have even been on the bridge. 

High River floods often enough that people know which houses are on the flood plain,  and to not be alarmed by flood warnings if your home is clear of those plains. 

At 11:00 I read a tweet that the NW side of High River was being evacuated. That was where my little girls dayhome was. I promptly left my school(located in a community south of High River)  and went to pick her up. My husband was meeting me to take her home to Calgary. At about 12:00, I was on my way back to school, and my husband and little girl were safely on their way home.

At about 12:40 I got the frantic call from my husban that while he was attempting to get lunch for our little girl at the local Co-Op, roads washed out and he and she were now stranded in the town that was amidst the worst floods ever seen in its history. 

Unable to call due to phone lines that were down, I sat and waited for any communication that the two most important people in my life were ok. I received a phone call from my husband that the RCMP were going to attempt to rescue them by boat. I was later informed that those rescues were too dangerous in the raging waters. 

I have never felt so helpless in my life. I felt lost and stranded myself. Frozen in a world that I knew was drastically changing. 

Nearly 9 hours later I received a phone call that my husband and daughter were safe. Rescued by combine and left in town to wait for me. 

Words can't express how I truly felt that day. The problem was, that day continued to unfold and has since altered everything that we as a family were looking forward to. 

So here we are, nearly 3 weeks after the historic High River flood, and we, among thousands of others, find ourselves grieving, an without a home. 

However, our story is still being written, and that day is just one chapter. Stay tuned....there's more to come...

1 comment:

  1. Hi Jill, I had NO idea of really what you went through, that would have been terrifying. I have a number of colleagues who live in High River and the stories have been horrendous. The CFIA set up a fund nationally, to help their affected employees. I became involved with bird rescue efforts, as many captive birds were found aimlessly floating around in pet kennels and with no food or water for a long time. What you said strikes a chord with all of us.

    Regards,

    Jacki

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