“We’re collaborating with provincial emergency operations personnel as part of the Alberta NGO Council,” says Henry Visscher, World Renew DRS Regional Manager for Western Canada. “We’re praying that the water will begin to recede now, and it will become clear how much assistance is needed in the short term.”

News reports from Calgary indicate that flooding from the Bow River and other area waterways has peaked after washing out roads, bridges, homes, businesses, and streets—but has not begun to recede after a week of rain and four additional inches on Friday. Police have requested that people stay away from downtown Calgary for the meantime, and provincial officials warn that more flooding may yet occur downstream and throughout the area, including Medicine Hat and Lethbridge.

“In the next few days areas to the East, into and along the South Saskatchewan, will be bracing for rising flood waters there,” says Ulrich Haasdyk, World Renew DRS Area Representative for southern Alberta, “but Canmore and Bragg Creek have been particularly hard hit.”

World Renew DRS Director Bill Adams says that while the water slowly recedes, organizations and agencies like World Renew are on the move now, getting volunteers from the Alberta area registered to assist flood victims with the initial stages of the recovery, likely in the next week or two.

“We expect that volunteers will begin cleaning up around the first week of July,” Adams says. “World Renew is partnering with Samaritan’s Purse Canada in the short term, and there may well be a need for reconstruction work in the future. This is truly an opportunity for the CRC to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our own communities during this unprecedented flood.”

If you would like to volunteer to help with this response, please call World Renew DRS at 800-848-5818 for more information.

Support World Renew's response; donate online . . . 

or mail your check, marked "Southern Alberta Flooding" to:

World Renew US
2850 Kalamazoo Ave SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49560
Tel: 1-800-552-7972

World Renew Canada
3475 Mainway
P.O. Box 5070 STN LCD
Burlington, Ontario, L7R 3Y8
Tel: 1-800-730-3490

 

 

Photo courtesy http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=128530