Three months after a nearby stormwater retention pond flooded basements and forced residents from their homes, former residents of Braeburn Estates have reoccupied six units. New hot water heaters, furnaces, and smoke detectors have been installed in all 24 affected units, and new drywall is in the process of being hung in the basements, said site manager Rebecca Taylor.
“It's a wonder they stuck it out for as long as they did,” Taylor said last Thursday. “The people that stayed and toughed it out really wanted to stay here. Some camped in trailers in their yards, because they liked it here. They're good tenants.”
The 30-unit complex at 5630 53 Avenue was formerly home to more than 70 residents, but has since dwindled to a meagre 14 residents.
“We did lose quite a few,” Taylor said of the residents that have moved elsewhere.
Renovations are ongoing, though Taylor said the health inspector has been at Braeburn Estates three times in the past two weeks to inspect units and ensure they were up to code and that hot water, heat, and smoke detectors were functioning.
Three blocks worth of drywall (a townhouse structure of four to six units) have been completed, and three more are under construction.
“It doesn't hinder people from moving in,” said Taylor. “It's not a health issue.”
“It's been really tough,” she says. “It's been really stressful because it's been three months, and we just had work start three weeks ago.”
All the time of not knowing what was going on, and whether or not the residences were actually going to be fixed — and when — only served to extenuate that stress, said Taylor.
“Having residents leave because they can't afford hotels – really good residents that we hated to see go – but we understood why they had to leave. We had no answers for them as to how long they would be out.”
The remaining residents have returned to their homes and begun the process of settling in and cleaning up, said Taylor, who also lives on the property.
“They're glad to be back in their homes again. It's still going to be hard until everything is completed.”
The other 18 units that were affected have been vacated by their former tenants, and will remain empty until they can be cleaned, Taylor said.
“Each unit will be cleaned from top to bottom,” Taylor said. “We're going to do painting, repairs. We want to do it while they're vacant.”
“We're going to get these units repaired and cleaned so we can start renting them out. I get phone calls every day from people looking for places.”
But until the empty units have been adequately cleaned and repaired, Taylor said she would be forced to turn down applicants – at least those looking for immediate tenancy.
“We're hoping a month – it should be a month on most of them. Some of them are older units, and we'd like to replace the carpets, which will take longer.”
“It does need to be done. It's just convincing the higher-up people.”
Removal of damaged property that tenants left in their backyards after the flood is the final item to be taken care of by management.
“We still have a lot of garbage and stuff to dispose of. Nobody really seems to want to help with that. The only people that are really doing a lot of help for us is the Word of Life Church.”
The Word of Life's youth group has also been regularly helping the people of Braeburn, by helping clean up backyards.
“People at the time were just throwing (their damaged property) out their doors into their backyards and not bagging it, so a lot of it has to be put in bags,” she said.
Taylor said this process extends the amount of time it takes to clean up – especially after most of it has sat outdoors for almost three months.
“We've just been filling up the black garbage bins. We did have the truck and trailer from head office (RVB Management) a couple of times, which we filled,” said Taylor.
It will likely be a couple more weeks until they can get the truck again, said Taylor, because people at head office are on vacation.
“If the church is willing to do it, that gives us a lot more manpower. They work hard. Little ones, right up to the older youth, they're all helping,” said Taylor, adding that they are very thankful for the help they have received.
To date, Taylor said Word of Life has donated a variety of items (beds, furniture, clothing, and other household items) to those who lost their possessions in the flood.
The church has also provided gift cards for groceries and other necessities.
“They've been really good like that, the whole time – right up until now — they're still donating.”
Many of the tenants took advantage of financial assistance (for uninsurable property losses) offered by the provincial government's Disaster Recovery Program, which held an application centre at the Olds Recreation Center in May.
“A few of the residents have already got letters as to how much they're getting back, and a date as to when they should be receiving that. So they're pretty happy about that.”
Taylor, a resident of Braeburn herself, said she did not go through disaster services, and although she had tenant insurance, she did not make a claim.
“We just kind of took our loss. There was too much going on at the time, worrying about everybody else – we just kind of let ourselves go.”
Though the town has not set a deadline for the damaged goods to be removed, Taylor said the bylaw officer has been by to ensure something is being done.
“It's not pleasant but we're getting there.”
