Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate STANLEY CUP
CHAMPIONS Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland scored goals 17 seconds apart as the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in dramatic fashion. B4
CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2013
‘Whatever it takes’ REDFORD ANNOUNCES $1B FOR PHASE 1 OF ALBERTA FLOOD RELIEF BY BILL GRAVELAND AND JENNIFER GRAHAM THE CANADIAN PRESS The Alberta government made the first billiondollar ante Monday in a flood recovery effort that by all accounts will carry a staggering final tab. As thousands heaved soggy furniture, muddy carpets and mushy drywall into Dumpsters and thou-
sands more waited in shelters for the all clear to return home, the province approved an initial $1 billion to kick-start flood recovery. “We are going to do — please listen to my words — whatever it takes to get everyone back to a place where they can continue to live their lives,” Premier Alison Redford said. The money will be used to support people who have been forced from their homes, as well as to run
COMPLETE FLOOD COVERAGE A3, A5, C3 relief centres and to start rebuilding infrastructure. The government will provide pre-loaded debit cards to displaced residents to help with their immediate housing needs and day-to-day purchases. Those who qualify will receive $1,250 per adult and $500 per child.
Please see FLOOD RELIEF on Page A3
MUDDY MEMORIES
CENTRAL ALBERTA
Significant damage left in wake of flooding BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF
Please see DAMAGE on Page A2
PLEASE RECYCLE
Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS
Resident Lisa Nguyen cleans the mud from a photograph of her father as she and volunteers are in clean up mode in the community of Bowness in Calgary on Monday.
Too soon to assess damage to parks system: city BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF With a flood warning no longer in effect and the Red Deer River steadily receding, the City of Red Deer has now turned its efforts to cleaning up the park system. But the city says it’s too soon and difficult to assess the damage to the trails or the river banks that will require remedial work. The Red Deer River crested at 1,335 cubic metres per second at a height of 5.56 metres on Saturday night. The flooding was not as bad as anticipated or close to the peak levels during in the 2005 flood. City manager Craig Curtis said there was no reported damage to private property and the minor damage was limited to Red Deer’s parks and trails. On Thursday, the city declared a state of emergency following a flood warning from Alberta Environment. With memories of the 2005 flood, the city enacted its emergency operations centre. Mayor Morris Flewwelling is attending the Making Cities Livable Conference in Portland but was in Red Deer on Thursday when the local state of emer-
WEATHER
INDEX
60% showers. High 20. Low 12.
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3,C4 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D4 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D5 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6
FORECAST ON A2
RED DEER gency was declared. This was the first time the city reacted to a large scale emergency situation under the city’s new emergency management model. The new planning is overseen by a new full-time emergency management co-ordinator. Deputy Mayor Tara Veer said the city has been preparing and allocating resources for emergency response for many years. She said the city fared well and was in a good position to respond to higher flood levels. “The time for planning for emergency is well ahead of time not in the moment,” said Veer. “Even if the waters had reached much higher flow and magnitude, I feel completely confident that the emergency operations centre had the situation well under control. Public safety was paramount and that was evident throughout.” Veer said it was bitter sweet to say that Red Deer fared so well compared to its neighbours in the south.
Please see RED DEER on Page A2
BUSINESS
ENTERTAINMENT
RESTORERS HEADING SOUTH
DISCO’S SECRET CONSPIRACY
Trish and Gordon Holmes are packing their bags and heading to Calgary. The couple will join their corporate counterparts from across Canada to help with the cleanup of the floodravaged city. C3
There was much more to the disco era than sex, drugs and dancing, according to the tongue-in-cheek documentary ‘The Secret Disco Revolution.’ C5
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Now that flood waters have receded rural Central Alberta municipalities are taking stock. While few doubt it could have been much worse, the damage is significant in some places. Garrington Bridge, a well-used link on Secondary Hwy 587 over the Red Deer River just a few km northeast of Sundre remained closed on Monday. High water flows ate away at an approach to the bridge. Red Deer County assistant manager Ric Henderson said there has been no word from the province on how soon it can be fixed. “It’s going to take some work.” In the meantime, residents heading east will have to detour north to another crossing and those heading west will have to take a southern route. About three dozen properties throughout the county saw some flooding, including a pair of homes on the Red Deer River about 15 km northwest of Innisfail. The residents of one home had earlier evacuated and the other homeowners were not there. No evacuation was ordered but the county alerted about 260 residents on a call-down list to the dangers with regular updates. The A-Soo-Wuh-Um Day Use Area five km west of Innisfail remains flooded after rising waters crept through on Saturday. Once a campground, A-Soo-Wuh-Um was hit hard by flooding in 2005. The county converted it to a day use area after that. Red Lodge Provincial Park, west of Bowden, also remains closed. Henderson said the situation was much the same as in 2005, although the Little Red Deer River did not seem as high and didn’t push as much water into the Red Deer River. “It was the same idea as in ’05. You know what’s coming,” he said. Jack Donald, whose home is in the county on the Red Deer River, said it didn’t match 2005 levels. He did get a small amount of flooding in his walk-out basement.