Thank you to all of you who have sent kind words and thoughts about my daughter's apartment flooding and her evacuation. Some have asked for updates, so I thought I would share some of this with you. I have not been getting any sewing done, as we went out to Calgary to help her.
This is a view of the street outside her building.. everybody's stuff all mixed together..
She is wandering around, viewing what is left of her belongings..
Her apartment is at ground level in Mission, one of the hardest hit areas of Calgary. It is a beautiful area, right beside the Elbow river. When the Elbow overflowed it bank, the area flooded, and her apartment was flooded right up to the ceiling!! Hard to imagine, isn't it? Fortunately, she and her boyfriend, and the puppy are all safe...but she lost everything.
This is what the inside looks like now..
The patio window is what you see lying on the living room floor. The apartment door is gone! And the hardwood floor is heaved about 2 feet. And it is all covered in several inches of mud and slime! It was horrible.
We had just replaced the fridge, stove and dishwasher 2 weeks prior to this...they didn't fare too well...
But the fresh new green paint survived !! Speaks well of Benjamin Moore paint , I guess!
I had mentioned that 4 of my quilts were floating around in the flooded apartment. Well we did find them...in there...
but they were very slimy, and had been sitting wet for a day on the lawn. We were advised that all these belonging should be destroyed as the water was contaminated with sewage and chemicals, and items would not be usable. We did soak one small special scarf in bleach a few times, but had to rinse it over and over and over, and there was still mud coming out. I can't imaging trying that with a multi layer quilt. So they are all gone!
Sad...but replaceable.
I can't say enough good things about the volunteers and people of Calgary!! They were amazing. Volunteers moved most of the heavy, wet furniture out of the apartment. Volunteers were there all day...for several days offering sandwiches, home-made cookies, bottled water and a kind word!
We had many people stop and ask if there was anything they could do to help. We certainly did not feel alone!
It was good that we could go to Calgary to help, and give her a big hug.
So now, the clean up begins! It will take several months, but it is starting now. They are telling her that there will be disaster relief money to help . It will all be brand new when it is finished !
She is coming to terms with this, although she said that she doesn't have much make up, so isn't wasting it right now, because it just gets ruined when she cries! Awww. It is getting better though. She is staying with some very good family friends, who will take good care of them. So we are lucky that she has a safe place to live, and the rest will just take time.
We are home again tonight, and I guess I had better get busy remaking those quilts!!
This is a view of the street outside her building.. everybody's stuff all mixed together..
She is wandering around, viewing what is left of her belongings..
Her apartment is at ground level in Mission, one of the hardest hit areas of Calgary. It is a beautiful area, right beside the Elbow river. When the Elbow overflowed it bank, the area flooded, and her apartment was flooded right up to the ceiling!! Hard to imagine, isn't it? Fortunately, she and her boyfriend, and the puppy are all safe...but she lost everything.
This is what the inside looks like now..
The patio window is what you see lying on the living room floor. The apartment door is gone! And the hardwood floor is heaved about 2 feet. And it is all covered in several inches of mud and slime! It was horrible.
We had just replaced the fridge, stove and dishwasher 2 weeks prior to this...they didn't fare too well...
But the fresh new green paint survived !! Speaks well of Benjamin Moore paint , I guess!
I had mentioned that 4 of my quilts were floating around in the flooded apartment. Well we did find them...in there...
but they were very slimy, and had been sitting wet for a day on the lawn. We were advised that all these belonging should be destroyed as the water was contaminated with sewage and chemicals, and items would not be usable. We did soak one small special scarf in bleach a few times, but had to rinse it over and over and over, and there was still mud coming out. I can't imaging trying that with a multi layer quilt. So they are all gone!
Sad...but replaceable.
I can't say enough good things about the volunteers and people of Calgary!! They were amazing. Volunteers moved most of the heavy, wet furniture out of the apartment. Volunteers were there all day...for several days offering sandwiches, home-made cookies, bottled water and a kind word!
We had many people stop and ask if there was anything they could do to help. We certainly did not feel alone!
It was good that we could go to Calgary to help, and give her a big hug.
So now, the clean up begins! It will take several months, but it is starting now. They are telling her that there will be disaster relief money to help . It will all be brand new when it is finished !
She is coming to terms with this, although she said that she doesn't have much make up, so isn't wasting it right now, because it just gets ruined when she cries! Awww. It is getting better though. She is staying with some very good family friends, who will take good care of them. So we are lucky that she has a safe place to live, and the rest will just take time.
We are home again tonight, and I guess I had better get busy remaking those quilts!!
This is so reminiscent of what our area went thru with Irene. It all does take time and so happy she is safe and in good hands.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for all the mess you guys have to go through. Glad she's safe!
ReplyDeleteHow awful. Sorry your daughter and so many others were affected by flooding. Luckily everyone is okay.
ReplyDeleteThat is terrible, Flo! I'm glad they are okay. So sad that they lost everything.
ReplyDeleteFlo, I am so glad your daughter is safe. This is a terrible tragedy! I feel terrible that she lost everything.
ReplyDeleteWow. Hard to imagine what a mess flooding makes. Your pictures sure put things in perspective. Did have a little chuckle about the paint though. Always good to have a laugh in times of troubles. But glad that everyone is safe and being looked after. People can be really amazing when times call for it.
ReplyDeleteThey have their health and that's the most important thing. So sorry about the quilts, but they can be remade. I'd be sorry about the heirloom things from my Grandma and the special things made for me by my kids... irreplaceable.
ReplyDeleteMost of all, I'd move to higher ground.
Hugs
There is a group on Facebook called Quilting for Calgary making quilts to give to those affected by the flood. There are people from all over working along with you to help comfort the flood victims.
ReplyDeleteFlo.. I am so very sorry that your daughter has endured this tragedy. I would love to make and send her a quilt to help replace the ones she lost. if you could send me some photos of the ones you had made for her, I will do my best to try and duplicate one of them to the best of my ability.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about your daughters problems! My daughter also lives in Calgary but fortunately not in the flood area. Some good friends of theirs live in High River and have not been able to even go into their home yet. My daughter and her family spend the summer at Waskesiu so their friends have moved in to their house for the summer.
ReplyDeleteHopefully people will get some financial relief.
It's horrible horrible horrible. ;( I'm watching my friends in Sunnyside via facebook. my god. the garbage. the mess. now the mould. sigh it is unreal.
ReplyDeleteI will make a slab - 15.5 inch right??? one color...
~Monika