Georgetown man shocked by flooding near his Alberta home

By Melanie Jackson
msjacksonpei@gmail.com

Mitch Yorston has witnessed the damage flood waters can do, but nothing prepared him for what he saw this past weekend in Alberta.

“The flooding of the Elbow River in 2005 was nothing compared to what’s happened here in 2013,” the Georgetown native said.

Mr Yorston said he was unaware of the destruction taking place until last Friday, when his friend shared the news.

“I was playing golf with a buddy. I didn’t know anything about it until he got a phone call saying High River was completely submerged,” Mr Yorston said, referring to the town about 35 kilometers south of Calgary.

“It just happened so fast.”

Between June 20 and June 22 torrential rains saturated Calgary and many of its surrounding communities, causing water in the Bow and Elbow Rivers to rise to record levels. An estimated 27 communities declared states of emergency, forcing as many 100,000 people to evacuate their homes. Four deaths were reported, although it wasn’t confirmed they were flood related. 

However, at least one person is still missing.

Mr Yorston decided to call Alberta his home 10 years ago.

“It’s the land of opportunity,” he said.

Last year, he moved to Auburn Bay, a residential suburb about 20 minutes southeast of Calgary’s downtown core. It was a move that quite likely saved him from the devastation that ravaged the city and many of its surrounding communities during the flooding.

“Hardest hit would be downtown (Calgary). I wasn’t affected, though. I’m more up on the hill,” Mr Yorston said of the house he purchased just last year.

“But the golf course that’s five minutes away from my house - the MacKenzie Lake Golf Course - has about 11 holes under water.”

Mr Yorston said he’s shocked by the damage he’s seen so far.

“I saw one spot where the Bull River is usually 20 or 30 feet wide and is now 100 to 150 feet wide,” he said. “Where there was land mass before, the water went up onto it and over it.”

Schools were closed for the week and power outages were reported across the region. Early this week damage was estimated in the $5 billion range and cleanup could take up to a decade. Some homeowners were allowed to return to their properties Monday only to see the disappointing destruction and losses first hand.

Mr Yorston said the Lafarge concrete plant in Calgary was another sight that was hard to behold.

“The plant is completely under water,” he said. “You can see semis (tractor trailer trucks) in the Lafarge parking lot that are in water up to their windows. I was blown away by all the trees ripped up downtown, too.”

Mr Yorston said he hasn’t ventured too far to see all the damage that’s occurred, but he’s seen lots of images on the Internet and news broadcasts.

“Just the pictures I’ve seen of highways completely washed out and bridges washed out, it is phenomenal.”

Mr Yorston said the company he works for - Pinnacle Drilling Products - didn’t open Friday. It ships drilling products across the country and around the world, so business depends heavily on transportation.

With many of the city’s surrounding highways washed out, Mr Yorston’s not sure what that means for the company’s operations.
“We’ll just have to wait and see how bad it is, but by the looks of the pictures I’ve seen, it will affect us.”

In the meantime, Mr Yorston is thankful he and none of his friends were affected.

“I had one friend who was evacuated,” he said, “but it was just a precaution. He’s fine.”

First appeared in The Eastern Graphic June 26, 2013