Flood Fallout

It has been 10 days since our community was evacuated, and Tom and I are still not allowed back in our condo. Although our unit was completely unscathed, the parkade was completely submerged, and it must be cleaned out and decontaminated before mechanical systems can be repaired, power can be restored and the building can be deemed safe for habitation again.

We can still have access to our unit, so we can come and go, and pick up our essentials. Compared to the thousands of people who were affected by this flood, we are very lucky.

So here's the run-down.

When the parkade flooded, there were still some cars down there that residents weren't home to save, or were just too late to save. As a result, the water in the parkade was gasoline contaminated.

The parkade, the day after.

As you can see, there is a lot of debris in the water. Not everyone has a storage unit in the parkade, so some people (ourselves included) stack a few things in our parking stalls. All of that stuff floated loose when the water came in. We have recently heard that the water was also contaminated with sewage back-up, so almost everything that was in the parkade is unsalvageable.

Gasoline contaminated, debris-ridden parkade water.

Clean up started almost immediately. By Monday, crews had started pumping out water (safely, they had to take the gasoline contamination into consideration), and slowly, the debris was no longer floating, and a thick layer of mud remained. The mud is up to two feet deep in some areas! Water keeps seeping in, so the result is a mud soup. All this needs to be removed from the parkade.

Muddy parkade driveway.

The next big task was towing all of the remaining cars out of the parkade. The condo parking lot is now a graveyard of muddy, waterlogged vehicles. In fact, there were many more cars in the parkade than I had imagined. There must be at least three dozen in the parking lot, not to mention more that are being removed every day. And some that have already been towed away for insurance appraisal. There was even a beautiful Jaguar.

Muddy, waterlogged cars.

And now comes the slow process of mud removal and clearing junk. And oh... The stuff that is coming out of these parkades! The parking lot is littered with tupperware containers, coolers, camping gear, Christmas tree ornaments and tires.

A pile of mud-covered bikes.

More parkade debris.

The condo board has not been able to give us a timeline of when we'll be able to go home, with good reason. The headache of organizing insurance adjustors, general restoration contractors, engineers, environmental consultants and trying to keep hundreds of residents informed is a monumental task. They have diligently informed us of their progress each day on the condo website.

It sounds like at the very least, we will be on our own for another two weeks. But the restoration contractors are mobilizing today with an additional 20-30 crew members to speed up the pace.

Since then, we have been relying on the hospitality of the Tom's parents, and soon, Ashley and Andrew. We are very appreciative! Now we can only hope that we'll receive good news about the progress. 

Happy Canada Day weekend!

Flooding Evacuation

Initially I had planned to write about our house painting, and our latest trip and hike in Waterton, but that all came to a screeching halt when a friend texted me this afternoon, "Hey, I heard your community is being evacuated, do you need a place to stay."

Evacu-whaaaa?

Tom and I started googling for any kind of update, and found a news story saying that our community was being evacuated due to the rising waters of the Elbow River, and widespread flooding. Knowing how close our condo is to the Elbow River, we both dropped everything at work and rushed home,. The article had said the community would be cut off to residents at 3pm (it was already 2:45pm), but we decided to try anyway. When we got to the community we had no trouble getting into the condo, but the parking lot was full of people who had also rushed home.

At first glance, there didn't appear to be too much different at our condo. We went inside and Tom immediately pointed out this sight from our window.

Normally this is just trees and a bit of grass.

I started packing, thinking, "Let's get some stuff, and get the hell out of here." Tom started running around taking pictures. He wanted to look in the parkade. He wanted to look on the other side of the building.

I should state that-- Tom and I could not have more polar opposite reactions to this event. I wa overwhelmed with worry and anxiety. I had adrenline pumping through me. Tom wa as calm as can be-- almost gleeful at the excitement of everything unfolding. Honest to God, I hope our kids have some kind of happy medium of these two. I don't think either reaction is particularly good!

By the time we had packed our stuff and started to take it to the car, water was flowing into the parkade in our building.

And flowing...

And flowing.

Thanks to Tom's exploring, he noticed water coming into the parkade early, and got the car out quickly. But there were other people who came home later than us, and were not able retrieve their vehicles. We could see several cars were submerged inside.

At this point, the parking lot was a scene of mass chaos, over-run with people coming and going. The police and fire crews were on scene, the fire alarms were going off and building security stopped letting people into the buildings. When we left, the entrance to the parkade was nearly submerged.

Tom and Andrew went back later in the evening to see how high the water had come. They left the car at the entrance to Discovery Ridge and had to walk into the community. The parkade entrance was completely submerged.

The stairwell into the parkade was submerged.

However, our condo (one of the units on the right) is still high and dry.

Thankfully, this was also a reminder of how great our friends and family are. We had dozens of offers to put us up for the weekend, and everyone we talked to offered to help in any way they could.

Our community was only one of over two dozen that were evacuated yesterday. My parents were evacuated, and many of our friends found themselves to be unexpected refugees. The zoo is completely submerged, as well as the Saddledome, and most of the Stampede grounds. And it is currently pouring like there's no tomorrow. Transformers are being flooded and communities are losing power.

This is definitely the biggest flooding event that I've ever seen.

Thinking good thoughts for everyone in Alberta today.

Thai Cooking Class

Last year Tom and I did a Vietnamese cooking class through Cookbook Cook Company as a Christmas gift from his parents. Since then, we've used the recipes we learned on many occasions. This year, as another Christmas present, Ashley, Andrew, Tom and I signed up for a Thai cooking class with the same company.

I must have taken over 50 pictures during the three hour class, but in the end, most of the photos will showcase the final products. There was just too much going on to show it all!

When we arrived in class, we self-separated ourselves into two tables, each with about 12 participants. The ingredients for each dish were laid out neatly on baking sheets, and we each had chopping boards and knives set out in front of us. With some debate, we each chose a dish to prep. Andrew and Ashley chose Pad Thai, Tom and I chose Massaman Curry Beef & Potatoes.

For the first 45 minutes or so, the kitchen was noisy with chopping and questions, as we each followed our recipes. But eventually, dishes were completed, and we hungrily scarfed them down.

Chicken Satay & Spicy Banana Salsa

The first dish up-- and one of my favourites from the day, was chicken satay and spicy banana salsa. I've never had banana salsa before, and it was quite tasty! Interestingly, the bananas in the dish were a solid green. I wouldn't have considered eating them, let alone using them for a salsa! These dishes were each divided on separate plates. It was quite a process to see 26 plates being plated at once.

Thai Shrimp Noodle Salad

Next up was a cold Thai Shrimp Noodle Salad. This dish had a mixture of flavours-- sweetness from pineapple, sour from citrus, and tangy from the dressing. It was also loaded up with basil and cilantro for a very fresh taste.

Coconut Chicken Soup

The next course, Coconut Chicken Soup, was probably my least favourite of the day. It was still a good soup, but it probably would have been better with some green curry in the broth. It was interesting to watch the two ladies who made this dish. They boiled the broth with lemongrass, bay leaves, and various other spices, and then they spent a lot of time fishing them all of the soup before we ate it. This soup was fragrant and spicy, and very light.

Massaman Curry Beef & Potatoes

Making curry from scratch as an interesting process that neither Tom or I had done before. It involved cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, cumin and coriander. We had to fry them, grind them with a mortar and pestle, and then blend everything in a food processor. The curry itself was very flavourful, but we ended up simmering the meat too long-- it was very tough and chewy when it was time to eat. I think we'd probably use some better quality beef if we were to make this dish again.

Tom and I, post Massaman Curry making.

 The last dish of the day to be made (but not consumed), was the Pad Thai. The chef explained that Pad Thai should be cooked and eaten immediately, because if it was left to sit, it would be come a congealed mass. I think we can all agree that no one wants to eat a congealed mass.

Ashley concentrating on cutting green onions.

 Pad Thai ingredients ready to cook.

Ashley and Andrew, prepping their egg mixture.

After the chef did a quick demonstration of stir-frying, he opened up the floor to let one of the pad thai cooks take over at the wok. Andrew took over, which the other women declared was very convenient, because the wok was very large, and Andrew had such very long arms!

Action shot of Andrew stir-frying.

With that, we consumed the rest of our main course, along with some Portugese white wine, Broadbent Vinho Verde.

Pad Thai and Massaman Curry, served with rice.

Last, but not least, we enjoyed some mango coconut macaroons. Let me tell you, this recipe will be used again, and again, and again. I love macaroons! Adding mango to them was a stroke of genius!

Coconut Mango Macaroons

And finally... Thai Mango Ice Cream. Dear. God. I think every person in the class was convinced that they would need to purchase an ice cream maker directly following the class so that they could make this ice cream again. The top was sprinkled with roasted coconut and cardamon-- it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Thai Mango Ice Cream

I think Tom and I are going to make the Chicken Satay and Spicy Banana Salsa for dinner one day this week. Can't wait!

Thanks, Barb and Dave! Another delicious Christmas gift!