Alberta floods: One year later High River family moves forward with thanks

Guest post by Diana Coulter, information officer for the Canadian Red Cross Alberta floods operation
Photo credit: J. Keith Howie
 
Slabs of fresh sod draw subtle lines along the High River field where Andrea Vasquez’s kids play soccer now. Just as the park shows few signs of last year’s devastating floods, Vasquez says her family also refuses to be defined by the disaster.
 
Rather than focus on all they’ve lost since the Alberta floods in June 2013, the family of six is determined to stay positive and express the gratitude they will always feel for friends, family and countless strangers since the floods.
 
“We want to tell people how much their efforts mean to us, that we are truly grateful,” says Vasquez, 43. “It has been rough for us, it’s true. But there has also been more laughter than tears. We have been so fortunate in many ways. And frankly, all I can say is thank God for the Red Cross because I don’t know how we would have managed.”
 
Andrea, her husband, Freddy, 49, and four children are still recovering from the partial destruction of their rented home. But that traumatic event is not their only challenge. Just months before the disaster, Freddy was diagnosed with a brain tumour, severe head trauma and heart issues, and had to stop working. Andrea works at a local school and family finances are extremely tight.
 
“We were already reeling, then the rains started,” Andrea recalls quietly. Like thousands of other families, they fled their home as flood waters swamped High River. Allowed to return days later, they found their dog alive but their basement and its contents destroyed. Smelly mould was already spreading. Their daughter’s suitcases packed for college were “trashed.”
 
What followed was weeks of trips to Red Cross for cleaning supplies. They also received Red Cross cash cards to help buy groceries, gas and household goods. And at Christmas, like most High River families with school children, they received help with holiday expenses. They bought the boys’ winter coats, shoes and other necessities. Freddy got new glasses.
 
But the emotional support means just as much, says Andrea.
 
“Our Red Cross caseworker has just been wonderful. At times, she is the only one who has stopped to ask me: How are you, really?”
 
Now, as the flood anniversary draws near, the family is determined to stay positive.
 
 “If something else happens, like it floods here again, then so be it. We got through the last time with only the clothes on our backs but we still have the most important thing: Our family.”