Former Southeastern Residents Persevere Through Flood

Former residents of southeastern Manitoba are recovering after the flash flood this past weekend in Alberta.

Heavy rain started Thursday in the Canmore area, turning creeks into torrents, sending boulders the size of cars down the mountainside.

Morley Fast, who lived in Steinbach for 48 years before moving to Canmore explains what he saw early Friday morning after their community had a few days of rain.

"When I woke up at 7am to have a look at Cougar Creek, which is traditionally three or four feet wide, it was two hundred and fifty to three hundred feet wide. The creek took with it a tremendous amount of boulders and dumped them unceremoniously in our town.”

Fast says that he's never seen this kind of flooding in his 12 years in the community and he added that many of the locals have never seen this kind of water in their lifetimes. Despite the fact that Fast grew up in Manitoba, experiencing the "Flood of the Century" he said this was a lot different.

"The Red River flows gently by comparison to what comes off these mountains. The water was coming down at highway speeds. It's very scary to see it moving that quickly."

Fast added that Cougar Creek normally stops at the Trans-Canada highway running through Canmore, but this time it washed out the four lane thoroughfare on its way to Calgary.

Malcolm Koop, who lived in Steinbach and was a former worker with Steinbach Youth for Christ said it's hard to explain the atmosphere in Calgary now that the worst of the water has passed.

"Some of it's a little bit of awe, with the power of the river and what it has done" said Koop who was evacuated from the Deer Run neighborhood in Calgary, but was allowed to return home Saturday evening. "For us we feel very fortunate to be back in our home."

That isn't the case for everybody, at one point 26 neighborhoods in Calgary were asked to pack their bags and leave as quickly as possible. Kristina Birse, former Grunthal resident who just moved to Calgary a couple years ago, was one of them.

"It was pretty surreal," says Birse who is still not allowed to return to her home in the Inglewood area. "All of a sudden a big news head line hit that people in certain communities had to go home and pack up. Most of my co-workers don't live by the river, but our condo is very close, so I was kind of worried."

Birse says her Condo is in relatively good shape besides the fact that their underground parking garage is under water. She added that she was very surprised by how hospitable everyone has been towards them.

"It's been incredible to see how people have come together. You hear about natural disasters elsewhere, where it seems like everyone needs to fend for yourself. But people in Calgary were offering us places to stay and restaurants were offering people who were affected free food. It's nice to hear, because I wasn't expecting it."

Pictures submitted by Morley Fast, showing the conditions in Canmore