Elbow River in Flood |
Bow River |
The first two days of our time together, Mary and
I obeyed the authorities injunctions to stay away (so that emergency crews were
not hindered by traffic blocking their way to flooded areas). But on Wednesday
June 27 we rode our bikes to a deserted downtown (power was out so most
companies were closed). PHOTO 1 AND 2 - LORNA AND MARY WITH HEAD We were
alone most of our time in the plaza where Mary's daughter Jennifer works,
exploring the many angles to view the large “Head in Thought.” PHOTOS 3 AND 4
Crossing to the Elbow River bike path, we discovered a river swollen to many
times its normal size (even though it had obviously gone down considerably as
evidenced by the collapsed banks and by the debris left high in trees and on
bridges. pHOTO 5 AND 6 A twisted and destroyed bike-and-pedestrian bridge
was blocked by plywood and guarded by a policewoman, in case any one was as
foolish as the canoeists who had launched into the flood-level Bow River and had
to be rescued, prompting the mayor to exclaim that he had thought it unnecessary
but would now declare that “the river is closed!” PHOTO 7 MARY AT BLOCKED OFF
BIKE BRIDGE
Thursday Mary and I drove across the city to her
friend Heidi's home in the Bowness district, concerned that Heidi and her
daughter would be returning from Africa having learned of the flood only the
night before when they regained Internet connections. PHOTO 10 MARY IN BOOTS We
found Bowness streets muddy ...and parking at a premium, since city vehicles and
people coming to help all needed spaces, and homeowners needed to keep access to
mountains of debris hauled out from their homes if dump trucks were to be able
to haul it away. PHOTO 11 SINK HOLE The normally quiet residential streets
were as active as a festival although the people were in recovery attire -
rubber boots, work gloves and with breathing masks over their mouths and
noses. Residents had been advised to put signs in their windows telling
what they needed. PHOTO 21 YELLOW SIGN
At Heidi's we found a crowd – her co-workers,
soccer team-mates and friends had hauled everything from her basement, spreading
potentially salvageable items across the lawn and heaping non-salvageable trash
into a mountain of muddy bulges in the driveway and edge of the street. PHOTOS
12 AND 13 HEIDI'S BACK YARD Someone finished with the hose, so I coiled
and carried the lengths around the house so that Mary and I could clean objects
in the driveway and on the lawn – car carrier PHOTO 16 MARY WITH
HOSE, mirrors from the bar, liquor bottles PHOTO 17 AND 18 and silver tea
set PHOTO 19 . Later, a couple from an unaffected district approached
us to offer help and spent several hours with us, peeling photographs out of
clay and washing them in buckets where the water quickly turned brown as the
river.
pHOTO 14 MARY
SWEEPING
We had barely started work when people in the
street approached us, offering food. PHOTO 25 GRUB WAGON had brought a water
bottle and several granola bars, but throughout our work, the “grub wagon”
mother and child and many other adults and children from unscathed areas of the
city brought bottles of cold water, fruit, cookies, sandwiches and muffins.
Stations set up on street corners were laden with food, drink, work gloves, and
masks, with porta-potties nearby. PHOTO 23 MARY AT FOOD STATION
Friday evening some young women came by inviting
us to a neighborhood party where they would grill Calgary's famous sausage.
Meandering down to check it out, we crossed the plank over the Moat, a ditch
augmented to about 3 feet deep because of the flooding. PHOTO 26 DITCH An
apparently abandoned lot had been designated “the Moat” - with free beer, tables
of food, a large banner across the entrance embellished with the image of a
cowboy hat and the message “This is how we giddy-up.” PHOTO 28
PARTY People climbed on a ladder to add their thoughts to the
banner; others wrote on big poster paper tacked to the side of a building -
How have I made a difference today? “
Helping people, not just the cute girls” PHOTO 24 ORANGE SHIRTS
What was your favorite moment? “seeing
people helping people” “seeing happy newlyweds toasting everyone in front of
their flooded home' “knowing we are close now; we are community” “this is the
first time in 6 years that I really feel Calgary is my home” pHOTO 27
TOILET
What made you cry? “strangers coming to
help us out” “orphans in Cambodia donating to help us” pHOTO 20 TOYS
COLORFUL
“seeing an elderly man pull a dry photograph from
a flooded basement and finding it was of his wedding in World War II
Germany”
PHOTO 22 PINK
SIGN
What gives you hope? “What we are going to
build here!”
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