CHAT News File Photo

By Brendan Miller

Alberta Floods 2013: Medicine Hat pulls together to help impacted residents

Jun 22, 2023 | 4:58 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – On this day 10 years ago both the Maple Avenue and Finlay Bridges closed as the city prepared for significant flooding.

Water levels in the South Saskatchewan River began to rise to peak record levels of 5,460 cubic meters of water per second.

A local state of emergency was already underway. Close to 10,000 residents were told they needed to evacuate from more than 1,000 homes.

As we look back on the Alberta floods of 2013 we wanted to showcase how the community came together to help those who were directly impacted.

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“It was really incredible to see that people regardless of where they were in the city coming down and showing support.”

Flats resident Laurel Wood’s auntie was on vacation overseas when news of a potential flood began to develop in Medicine Hat.

Wood recalls the urgency she felt as she tried to save her family members’ belongings from her home hours before her street was flooded by rising waters after evacuation orders had been given.

Overwhelmed by the chaos and uncertain on what she should save, some unexpected help arrived at her door.

“A knock on the door and there was a coach and a football team from Medicine Hat High School and a group of young boys came in and just started hauling by the boatloads of everything up out of the basement that we possibly could, it was incredible,” says Wood.

The high school athletes were able to save most of Wood’s family members’ possessions before the house flooded the following day.

Because of the extra help Wood was able to focus her attention on saving her aunties vintage car.

It’s just one story that highlights the resilience of the community. Family members, friends and strangers all coming together to help.

“We just had people coming around knocking on the door bringing supplies,” describes Wood.

“It was a really difficult experience. Definitely some trauma but also a really beautiful opportunity to see I guess the best side of people when you’re in a crisis that you’re just not alone,” adds Wood.

READ MORE: Alberta Floods 2013: Emergency services forced to pivot response plans during flood

Derrick Gavey and his family had little time to pack up their belongings and leave their home located on Fifth Street SE.

Gavey says they were only given 12 hours evacuation notice and relied on the help of strangers to make sure they could protect their belongings.

“Loaded up our life, or as much as we could. Moved things to the top level of the house where we could and it was crazy, but there was a bunch of people in the back alley just randomly walking around helping strangers out,” describes Gavey.

Gavey and his family were able to stay at his boss’s home for almost a week before returning to their house.

Gavey says their home didn’t suffer any major damage, but only a few doors down the aftermath of the worst flood in the province’s history caused significant property damage to many of his neighbours’ properties.

Fortunately, Gavey says the community came together in force to help those worst impacted by bringing supplies, food, manpower and emotional support.

“After that when the waters had subsided there was a lot of community help,” says Gavey.

“People helped neighbours remove an extreme amount of garbage and furniture and destroyed things into the road and helped them load those up so yeah the community spirit continued even after that,” adds Gavey.