Acts of kindness lift spirits as emotions run high in Chestermere
Stephanie Chalmers doesn’t understand how the time got away on her.
“They said they’d be here at 11, I don’t know how I managed to be late,” says the Chestermere mom as she and her nine- yearold daughter, Jaidyn, jump out of their car to greet the plumber and drywaller standing on her front lawn.
Only thing is, the contractors in front of her two- storey home aren’t contractors at all — and the half- dozen younger men with them aren’t labourers. They’re members of Christian Disaster Relief and they’re here to haul away a metre- high pile of soggy drywall, wood and various waterdamaged household items.
“Oh, lovely,” says Chalmers when she realizes her business appointment is actually a random act of kindness for her family in need.
“This is touching my heart,” she says. “I’m sorry, but I’m choking up.”
On the streets of Chestermere, a small city that is almost a literal stone’s throw from Calgary’s eastern limits, it feels for this Herald scribe like 2013 all over again — both for the familiar signs of destruction and the community response.
No, it’s nothing like the mass devastation of High River back when the great Alberta flood hit two years ago. The waters here only came up about three inches in some 300 basements. But oh, what utter havoc and destruction, both physical and emotional, just three inches of water can bring.
On Sunday, the residents of the community of around 17,000 souls were taken by surprise when torrential rains from a summer storm flooded parks and overflowed storm water and sewer systems. The lightning strikes that hit transformers resulted in power being knocked out all around town, which also shut down many a sump pump designed to keep water out of basements.
By Thursday morning, after a second storm had come through less than 48 hours earlier and flooded even more homes, residents like John Beal were still shaking their heads over the surprising wallop that came courtesy of both Mother Nature and a city drainage system that wasn’t built to handle such a rare deluge.
“This is my toilet on Sunday — gross, eh?” Beale says as he shows me a video of his overflowing toilet on his smartphone.
While it’s indeed a disturbing sight, what is even more shocking is the next video he plays, this one of his backyard transformed into a fast- moving river.
“It breached the berm,” says Beale. “We’ve been here almost 13 years and we’ve never seen anything come close to this.”
Like many on his street, Beale has most of the contents of his downstairs recreation room overflowing out of his garage and onto the driveway. Looking at the mess, he shrugs his shoulders.
“You know, one church group came by on Sunday afternoon and in 45 minutes they had cleared out our basement,” he says with a smile. “That lifted our spirits. What are you going to do? Nobody died.”
Still, it’s anything but easy to watch the contents of one’s home carted away. There’s no denying the pain etched on the faces of people like Colleen, who has the dubious distinction of sporting the largest Dumpster on her block, this one filled to the brim.
“My kids’ bedrooms are in the basement and we lost half our home,” she says through tears, adding she isn’t comfortable providing her last name as she is awaiting an insurance adjuster to arrive at any moment. “We’ll fill at least another Dumpster before we’re done.”
Colleen says the only saving grace is that her two children are out of town with their grandparents.
“They’re home on Saturday, and that’s when we’ll break the news to them,” she says. “They don’t know yet, we don’t want to ruin their vacation.”
Engin Uran is still planning on leaving this week for his summer getaway, even though his home is a scene of chaos after his newly renovated rec room had to be completely torn up.
“My wife and kids are in Turkey for a family wedding, I can’t cancel,” says the father of four as he stands near a Dumpster filled with water- soaked Finding Nemo stuffed animals and other toys. “I’m glad the kids aren’t here to see all their toys in the garbage, they’d go crazy.”
It’ll be some time before a drive through Chestermere isn’t akin to a ride on a roller- coaster, with emotions running high as residents work their way through the cleanup and grapple with insurance companies over compensation.
For some, though, the plan is to move forward with a brave smile and a positive attitude.
“Some young girls came around delivering cookies,” says Chalmers as she watches the church volunteers clean up her yard in less than five minutes. “This is our community, everyone’s pulling together. It’s just awesome.”