FOOTHILLS - Ten years has passed since deadly floods cascaded across southern Alberta.
On June 20, 2013, devastating floods caused evacuations and widespread damage to homes, business and infrastructure after rainfall led to record-breaking river flows.
In High River, flooding on the Highwood River forced the evacuation of the entire town of 12,000 people.
Black Diamond, Turner Valley, Okotoks and properties in Foothills County were also affected by the flooding.
Mayor Craig Snodgrass said High River is now the most well-protected community in the country when it comes to flood risk. A series of berms now protect the town, and although most were completed quickly after the flood, other aspects of recovery took longer.
“It's not a speedy process,” Snodgrass said. “It was nine years to get this taken care of.”
Entire neighbourhoods were removed, and a large berm to the southwest of town was recently completed.
“You work through all these things, as challenging as some of them are, you make darn sure you get it taken care of at the end of the day,” he said.
Snodgrass was elected as the Town’s mayor in the fall of 2013 and said he ran for office to be involved in the recovery.
Following the flood, a major rebuilding process started in High River, and downtown streetscapes were completely revamped.
Roads had to be torn up because the underground infrastructure was destroyed.
“When a disaster hits like that, and you have to do that much rebuilding and repairs, you've got to look at the opportunity that's in front of you to make some changes and hopefully move your community into the future, rather than the past,” Snodgrass said.
Although rebuilding took years, a more immediate impact was felt from a different kind of help. One of the biggest things people remember is the amount of volunteers who arrived, he said.
“That's what immediately gets you back going and starts giving people hope that everything's going to be OK," he said.
Volunteers were critical in helping people get back on their feet, he said.
“It’s pretty overwhelming,” he said. “Dealing with your own catastrophe at home and you come outside and somebody's bringing boxes of pizza up to the door.”
Mitigation measures that will protect High River have the potential for causing problems downstream, said Foothills County Reeve Delilah Miller.
“By protecting the town with their dyking system, it's actually created a worse situation for some of our residents,” Miller said. “Some...will receive a lot more water because of that."
Some aspects of recovery have been slow to come in Foothills County, with funding received this year for the final property buyout on the lower Highwood River, she said.
“Those folks have been waiting almost a full 10 years to receive any kind of flood buyout,” she said.
Since the flood, the County has improved communications and disaster response procedures, she said, and holds a provincial stockpile of equipment used for flood emergencies.
Stream monitoring has also improved over the last 10 years, and people will have more warning in case of future flood emergencies, she said.
In Black Diamond and Turner Valley, flooding on the Sheep River left critical infrastructure destroyed.
The two towns, located a few kilometres apart, merged to form the Town of Diamond Valley earlier this year, and Mayor Barry Crane said the flood helped bring the two communities together.
When the water treatment plant in Black Diamond was washed away by floodwaters, Turner Valley was able to supply water to the town within 24 hours.
Turner Valley was left with one access route into town and a lengthy detour to Okotoks after two bridges were destroyed.
“We were more of a commercial and infrastructure issue, versus a residential,” Crane said. “I think we dodged a bullet in that respect.”
Downstream from Diamond Valley, Okotoks Mayor Tanya Thorn said there’s always nervousness and apprehension around rising waters.
“Everybody's still a little uncertain," Thorn said. "Is all the mitigation and all the things that we did, has it made it better?"
During the flood, access to the Town’s water treatment plant was cut off, though the facility remained operational.
Operators had to be flown in by helicopter. Post-flood, a new bridge was built to the south of the plant for access in future high-water events.
Okotoks also strengthened river banks and updated the storm sewer system.
Although it experienced some damage, the town was spared the devastation that took place to the south and west, Thorn said.
An emergency response and evacuation centre was set up, and Okotoks became the hub in the region.
“Lots of residents, that's where they were evacuated to, that's where they had to go,” she said. “Our community really stepped up to support our neighbouring communities."
Foothills MP John Barlow recalls how the community came together and how quickly people organized in the immediate aftermath.
Seeing the recovery in places like High River, Diamond Valley and Bragg Creek shows the resiliency and community spirit of southern Alberta, Barlow said.
“Everyone just banded together,” said Barlow, who was the editor of the Western Wheel at the time, “and started helping wherever it was needed.”
Since people in High River weren’t allowed back into their homes for weeks, it was common for others to open their homes to those who needed a place to stay, he said.
“And then to go back to their homes, weeks later to see the devastation was a heartbreaking experience,” he said. “I think for many people, the mental health impact of that lasted much longer than the actual brick and mortar repairs.”
Snodgrass said the biggest lesson from the 2013 flood is not to be complacent with these events or think they won’t happen. Crane echoed that sentiment.
“Now we have extra equipment, extra food on our emergency services side, extra forethought,” Crane said.
Snodgrass said High River was fortunate to get help from the Province.
"We completed all the mitigation that we wanted to get done, and did that within nine years," he said. "High River is the poster child of recovery."
