We’ve just passed the one-year mark of when Southern Alberta experienced one of the worst flooding events in the history of our province.
Cochrane was fortunate: our town was not impacted to the extent of many of our neighbours. We have been fortunate this year too and our thoughts are with communities to the south of us who are dealing with flooding again.
What stands out most for me was how Cochrane residents reached out to neighbouring communities and were so committed to helping others where they could. Our sense of community connectedness shined through brightly.
Cochrane first-responders provided emergency assistance to surrounding communities. Town staffers provided relief support services to municipal staff in harder hit communities so they could have rest breaks (and tend to flooding of their own homes).
And, so many individuals and volunteer organizations from Cochrane demonstrated remarkable compassion and selflessness by working to protect our town and help flood victims in other communities.
Cochrane, while not impacted in the same way as many of our neighbours, did experience some damages as a result of the flooding. The town has received provincial funding for recovery projects related to community protection and erosion control.
Seven disaster recovery projects are now complete, and five projects are currently being done as part of Riverfront Park. The town received funding for three flood recovery and erosion control projects: two projects are waiting for Alberta Environment to complete a Bow River hydrology study; the other project requires consultation with affected residents to determine appropriate measures to protect homes from future flood events.
The town receives regular reports on river and stream conditions and forecasts, and shares that information on the town website and social media channels.
Be sure to sign up for town notifications about emergency alerts, calendar events and RFP opportunities by email or text message: cochrane.ca/NotifyMe.
