Olds College was expecting 150 flooded out seniors from Calgary on the afternoon of June 28 to stay for several weeks at the school’s residences, said Doug Wagstaff, manager of campus life at the college.
Olds College was expecting 150 flooded out seniors from Calgary on the afternoon of June 28 to stay for several weeks at the school’s residences, said Doug Wagstaff, manager of campus life at the college.
Wagstaff said the residents from the Trinity Place Foundation seniors lodge were expected to stay for between four and six weeks at the college.
He said more flooding evacuees could be coming to the college this week.
The impact of the influx on campus staff would be minimal, Wagstaff added.
"We have the food services (personnel), we have the janitorial staff. It will work similar for us on an operational basis as having a small conference group," he said.
Others in the community are responding to the flooding throughout the province in various ways. Leslie Eling, a member of the Word of Life Church, spearheaded a collection effort of non-perishable food, clothing and other items after seeing the devastation in High River.
"I became really affected by specifically a story in High River where a mom had to be evacuated so quickly that she didn’t even have time to grab sleepers for her kids," she said.
As a result, Eling contacted a friend who works at the Olds Wal-Mart and asked if the store would be willing to act as a staging point for donations. Eling then enlisted the help of the owners of the former Stang’s Health Centre building to act as a sorting centre for donations.
Last week, volunteers from the community had collected about 12 truckloads of supplies. Eling said about two dozen volunteers were sorting goods at the sorting centre and that more water, clothing, volunteers and non-perishable food were needed.
"People need to continue to realize that (the need) is ongoing. It’s not just (during) the evacuation; the urgency is coming," she said.
Eling got the effort started by posting on a message Facebook.
She said she planned on continuing the effort for as long as people have need for the items.
"In the moment of disaster, when the news is at its peak, that’s when people’s heartstrings are really pulled, but I think that people need to understand that urgency happens long after the immediate evacuation. Many of these families have nothing to go back home to," she said.
If people want to donate their time, they can contact Eling at [email protected] or through Mountain View County flood relief on Facebook.
Richardson Brothers contracting is also working in the Okotoks area, repairing rail lines for Canadian Pacific. Bill Turville, operations supervisor with the company, said eight people and five pieces of machinery are working in the area.
Girls from the graduating class at Olds High School are also being invited to donate graduation dresses to their peers in High River. Highwood High School’s graduation ceremony has been postponed until further notice.
The Olds RCMP sent three officers to work in High River and one to work in Canmore on general duties.
During the June 20 evacuation in Sundre, in which Olds College received 59 displaced residents from that community, Wagstaff said he thought everything went relatively smoothly.
At some point in the future, he added, a meeting between college staff and regional emergency services personnel will take place to determine how the college might improve response.
"We thought it went well. We have a few comments that we’re going to forward at a debriefing to the regional services agencies. I think we all learn, after each event, little things that can make a difference," he said.
Boston Pizza in Olds donated eight pizzas to people staying at the college on June 20 after hearing from employees who live in Sundre how difficult the situation was in that community.
"(Staff) at the college came over to order pizzas and they were going to pay and we said, 'No, we’re not going to take your money,’" said Angela Sutherland, the restaurant’s owner/manager.
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