The Flood of 2018!

It's been quite a week in Beiseker!  Village council declared a local state of emergency when flood waters started filling basements and crossing roads!  I was most impressed with Public Works this week.  That tiny force of less than a half dozen started battling flood waters last Sunday and they never let up until they won!  If you meet Public Works Foreman Dave, give him a hearty "well done!"  He and his crew deserve that!

I was also very impressed with the Emergency Management Team made up of many different agencies and departments who set up in Council Chambers on Tuesday and ran the whole operation under the leadership of Mike Richter!  Mike; you and your team were awesome!  Throughout the crisis our CAO and her staff, the mayor and councilors were very much in the loop helping out everywhere and maintaining a high profile!

We had our own crisis brewing at the Beiseker Airport!  Several hangars, and our meeting house were flooding and some aircraft were in danger!  The quick actions by volunteers who pumped water for countless hours saved the day!  At one point Rocky View County sent out a huge pump which moved a ton of water and gave us chance to get ahead of the situation!

Overall it was an incredible operation and one which saved our village!  Thank you all for your efforts.

Bad news:  Several homes ended up with flooded basements!  At one point overland floodwaters compromised our sanitary sewer and several basements were flooded with sewage!  All is well again now but these folks will need help to get their lives back to normal!  If you are one of those misfortunate residents please register with the village office as soon as you can!  If you know of someone who has been affected by the flooding please check with them to make sure they're ok and that they've registered.  Red Cross clean-up kits are available from the Beiseker Fire Department and the Village Office. 

Now is the time for us to help our neighbors!

Well done everyone!

p.s.  As you know, I'm retired from village council;  I stayed out of way, and watched.  I was curious to see how this council would react to this serious crisis.  They and our Village staff were incredible!  I was very proud of them all!

Kicking Someone When They're Down

I did hear another rumour about the flood victims in Southern Alberta which I was desperately hoping was untrue.  It turns out that it was very much true!

Apparently some individuals, posing as clean-up crews are going into flood ravaged areas and looting whatever they can.  This is low, very low!

If you've been helping out in a flood area in Southern Alberta try to remember if you saw anyone or anything suspicious.  Do you remember a licence number or even a name on a truck door?  If you do, I urge you to talk to the RCMP or Crime Stoppers. 

It's important to say that almost all of those working and volunteering down there in High River were wonderful volunteers and professionals.  A few, it appears, had far less noble reasons to be there!