Tales of hope and kindness

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This article was published 31/03/2009 (6013 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

1But these are not normal times in the Red River Valley. And so, the cold is suddenly our ally.

It has delayed the melt and slowed the flow of water.

Unfortunately, it has also frozen culverts and ditches, adding to the risk of more overland flooding.

While many unknowns remain, one thing is clear: There will be no spring break next week for many living near the Red.

 

School bus filled with good hearts

AUDRA and Trent Goodbrandson couldn’t believe what they were seeing as two bright-yellow school buses arrived at their flood-threatened River Road home just south of Selkirk Friday morning.

Moments later, more than 100 eager high school students poured out and formed a human chain around their property to begin sandbagging.

"I got a tear in my eye when they showed up," Audra Goodbrandson said. "The worst always brings out the best in people."

Relief quickly turned to fear — how in the world was she going to feed everyone?

Fortunately, the Salvation Army took care of that potential problem, arriving a short time later with bowls of hot soup and fresh sandwiches for their ravenous volunteers.

The Goodbrandsons realized Thursday they were in an emergency situation as massive glacier-like ice jams formed on the Red River just outside their property.

They spoke with the RM and began phoning and emailing family and friends looking for help. But they never counted on the kindness of strangers. The students — from Calvin Christian, West Kildonan and Lord Selkirk — had been sent their way on an impromptu "field trip" and clearly loved the opportunity to make a difference while spending a day outside the classroom.

"It’s good teamwork. It’s tough work, but the people living here can’t do it on their own, so it’s nice to help," said Brett Weremiuk, a Grade 11 student from West K.

Adam Marks, 16, said students were finding little time for small talk as they built a four-foot barrier around the Goodbrandson property on top of the berm the family constructed following serious flooding in 2007.

"We can’t talk much. Too busy huffing and puffing," he said.

Trent Goodbrandson now hopes the ice breaks up soon and spares his home, and others in the area, from severe flooding.

"We haven’t seen water build up like this before," he said.

"But it’s a tremendous job they’ve done here, I can’t say enough about all the help. I’ll be resting a lot easier," he said.

 

Musician lends voice to the fight

MANITOBA’S scramble to stave off the threat of ice jams and rising flood waters has inspired a Canadian country music phenomenon to lend his voice to the flood-fighting effort.

Popular crooner Johnny Reid will hold a fifth show in Winnipeg Sunday night with all proceeds going towards flood-relief efforts.

Reid came up with the idea just 60 minutes before he stepped on stage at Club Regent Casino Friday night for the first of his four sold-out shows in the city.

He said he was touched by the desperate efforts of Manitoba residents to save their homes and communities.

Within minutes, casino staff, Ticketmaster, the band and the production crew came together to organize the event, and donate their time to raise money. Tickets sold out almost instantly.

The event will raise about $16,000, and Reid said 100 per cent of the proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross’s flood relief.

"I turned on the news and I saw the despair that’s happening here, the desperation. I felt it in my heart that maybe there was something we could do," Reid said.

 

In time of need, friends indeed

Steaming piles of soggy, pink carpet are heaped on Kevin Lusk’s front yard, casualties of the ice-jam flood that left an inch of water in his living room.

His driveway is a treacherous maze of frozen ruts and a generator thunders on the front step.

"We’re still vulnerable," said Lusk, whose home was one of about two dozen north of Winnipeg flooded by ice jams earlier this week.

"We’re going to probably get it again."

Water swamped his crawl space and seeped onto the main floor of his once-tidy bungalow.

With no power, gas or heat, Lusk was worried he’d return to an indoor ice rink if he heeded the advice of emergency measures staff and left for the night. "That would have turned the house into one big ice cube," he said.

Instead, friends brought him generators to keep the heat pumping overnight and Lusk stayed up to feed it. On Friday, Lusk, his wife and neighbours set to work trying to rid the home of its water. Their green sofa was piled high with other furniture and the living room floor was little more than wet plywood.

 

The family that bags together…

CONNOR McKnight loves to play in the sand. But on Friday, the nine-year-old St. Andrews resident was all business as he helped his dad fill bags at the local fire hall.

"We got an email (Thursday) asking for volunteers, and he wanted to come and help," said proud papa, Brian.

Connor may have been among the youngest volunteers, but his energy level was as high as anyone.

"It’s fun," he said with a big smile.

Nearby, another father-and-son team worked in tandem to shovel and fill bags.

"We’re off work for a week because of the weather, so we figured what the heck, we’ve got the energy, let’s come and help," said Neil Bryan, who does carpentry work along with son, David.

"When I saw the ice jam, it kinda stood my hair on end," he added.

By early afternoon Friday, dozens of other community volunteers were pitching in, including members of three local Hutterite colonies. Chris Benson took the day off work from Duck’s Unlimited to donate his time to the cause.

"It’s great to see so many kids out here," he said.

When strangers become friends

 

YOU can tell Lyle Thompson’s met so many people in the last 48 hours that he’s stopped trying to remember their names.

As another volunteer arrives and introduces himself to a bleary-eyed Thompson, another dozen are cracking jokes as they toss more sandbags on a semi-circular dike in front of his home.

"It came up really quickly and touched the dike yesterday and gave everyone a good scare," said Thompson as two pickup trucks full of sandbags and students waited in line in his driveway. "I was the first guy to get bags at the fire hall."

Thompson’s house has been bookended between two ice jams — one that flooded part of River Road just a short walk south of him and one that’s now clogging the river at Lockport, just a minute north.

In four years of living on River Road, the water has never even come close to his yard, said Thompson, adding he’s been overwhelmed with the support of friends and strangers.

Flood victim back to help others

 

GAIL Masson has earned her share of flood fame.

She’s the woman who was loaded into a Zodiak and boated out of her River Road home Wednesday morning. And her two-car garage, now half-submerged in waist-deep frozen mush, is probably the flood’s saddest symbol so far.

Masson made her way back to her River Road home Friday, not to thaw her watery basement, but to help out her neighbours who also got flooded.

"We’re not sure whether our house is salvageable or whether we’ll have to rebuild," said Masson, standing on a deep crust of ice outside her home. "We’ve all been lost here, but at least let’s prevent future damage."

 

Hot food and warm hearts

 

MARCEL Lemire wouldn’t look out of place on an airport tarmac. But on this day, the retired engineer is directing sandbags, not planes.

Lemire is a key cog in the operations at the St. Andrews fire hall, which has turned into local flood headquarter serving the communities of West St. Paul, St. Andrews and St. Clements.

Inside, rows of hot food, fresh fruit and cold drinks are lined up on tables that sit next to several fire trucks.

Other volunteers work the phones and monitor sign-in sheets, where people can request sandbag assistance and register for evacuation help in a worst-case scenario.

"We’ve always found this, the volunteer aspect of a municipality is pretty great," said Lemire.

 

— Mike McIntyre, Mary Agnes Welch and Jen Skerritt

 

 

A river of water woes

. The chance of a 1997 level flood occurring this

spring in Manitoba has diminished.

. Ice jams still pose the greatest threat to Winnipeg

and other communities along the Red.

. Red River ice could clear the city as early as

April 1, which would allow operation of the floodway.

If the ice is still here on April 3, water levels

could hit the high side of the range predicted for

James Avenue (20.5 feet above historical winter

ice levels).

. Overland flooding in the Red River Valley will

likely increase somewhat when the snow melts

again early next week. The flooding is expected to

continue for two to three weeks, even with favourable

weather.

. Ice jams on the Red between Lockport and

Selkirk have been relatively stable since Thursday

afternoon.