Rev. Drew Burnand arrived in High River, Alta., days after June’s devastating flood almost washed it away.
Burnand said it was like “something out of a sci-fi movie.” The streets were empty of people and coated with a thick layer of mud. Train tracks were twisted. Asphalt in a parking lot was rippled.
The town of about 13,000 people was the hardest hit when a deluge on June 20 caused rivers to swell and sewer systems to back up, flooding areas in Alberta from Canmore to Calgary and Medicine Hat.
As a volunteer chaplain for the RCMP in Red Deer, Burnand was called in to offer spiritual and emotional care to officers. And as people returned to face the damage done to their homes and possessions, he offered support and prayers where he could.
Four people were killed by the floodwaters, three of them in High River. But most residents faced the loss of material things.
“When people face calamity,” Bernand said, “you get the best or the worst.”
As people began to pick up the pieces, he said he saw many of them “rising to the occasion.”
“It’s neighbour helping neighbour and new friends made. Block parties were cropping up. There were people two doors down who had never met, yet they’re facing the same thing together. It’s about rebuilding and it’s the best of human nature.”
In other towns and cities hit by the floods, Presbyterian ministers and lay leaders called everyone in their congregations to make sure they were okay. And members pitched in where and how they could, providing food, rides and helping hands.
“I think a lot of it was old fashioned, on-the-ground ministry,” said Rev. Clay Kuhn, minister at St. Paul’s, Banff.
“We’re a church that’s old enough not to have a lot of sweat equity,” said Rev. Dr. Nancy Cocks, minister at St. John’s, Medicine Hat. She said church members offered some help with food preparation, and the church was taking up collections to provide financial support.
Many churches opted to support existing agencies like Samaritan’s Purse, which launched the largest Canadian disaster response in the history of the organization. Presbyterian World Service and Development also accepts donations for flood relief in Alberta.
“The volunteer response within the city was dramatic and immediate by all kinds of organizations and all kinds of individuals,” said Rev. Dr. Jean Morris, pastoral care minister at Grace, Calgary.
Flooding in the city’s downtown reached the basement of Calvin Hungarian, but nearby Grace escaped unscathed.
Following worship on June 23, Grace’s ministers and lay leaders held a meeting to decide on a strategy: what needed to be done and what could the church do?
The team decided to support organizations that were already working to clean up the city. They posted links about volunteering on the church’s website. They coordinated volunteers who wanted to help church members whose homes had been flooded. And they responded to needs expressed by the local service agencies with which they already had relationships.
“Needs are ongoing and changing,” said Morris. “From a congregational perspective and a community of faith perspective, we will be sharing with each other and responding to these needs for a long time.”
In late July, Morris spent a day in High River as a volunteer chaplain with Samaritan’s Purse.
“People are devastated, overwhelmed by what’s happened to them,” she said. “This trauma and grief triggers previous grief and loss for people.”
“I was very humbled and very thankful that the church can be there in these times. I was pleased to be part of an ecumenical initiative. That day there were Presbyterians, members of the Alliance church, Baptists—some of them were doing physical labour on teams, some of us were providing emotional help. To be the body of Christ, it didn’t matter who you were.
“People mentioned so many times the power of community and generosity and compassion they had experienced. We heard that story over and over again.”
