Residents bailing out from floods
Community spirit shines through as neighbours aid soggy victims
Matthew Pearson, Times Colonist
Published: Sunday, November 22, 2009
Three-year-old Simon Baker has one question that he asks over and over again: Why? Why is the big television gone? Why are my books all wet? Why can't I touch anything? A weary Tina Baker, the boy's mother, did her best to explain the flood to her son and, perhaps most importantly, assure him everything would be OK.
The television, at the very least, had been shuttled to drier ground by boat the day before.
Water is still ankle-deep in the backyard and the carpets inside Baker's home are soggy and littered with debris.
Baker, who has lived on Heather Street for almost nine years, said her landlord told her it would be at least six months before the house is habitable again.
The mother of two is determined to return.
"This is my house," she said. "My kids have grown up here." The Bakers were among about 300 Cowichan Valley families evacuated Friday after the swollen Somenos Creek crested its banks.
Yesterday, residents of Heather Street -- where the water level in some areas reportedly reached a metre high -- surveyed the damage and chatted over cups of coffee supplied by a man from up the street, where floodwaters didn't reach.
Ron Arscott -- who doesn't live in the affected area -- dropped by to offer people a warm place to stay.
No one took him up on it, but one woman was happy to accept his offer of the warm socks on his feet.
Neighbours banding together is something Kate McCabe has come to know since moving to Heather Street with her family three months ago.
Half a dozen people dropped in to introduce themselves before McCabe moved in.
"It's just that kind of place where people are offering themselves and that kind of support," she said.
That her corner house, built on a small rise, fared better than some was celebrated by neighbours, not resented, she said.
Around the corner on Beverly Street, Aldine Kirkpatrick sat in the passenger seat of a car while her daughter and husband loaded boxes into the trunk and back seat.
She was thankful she had a large family to lend a hand.
Her sons had already taken a truckload of stuff to storage and the Kirkpatricks had arranged to temporarily move into an apartment.
A day before, the yellow bungalow was sitting in 15 centimetres of water that damaged couches, chairs and possessions stored under the bed.
A treasured family Bible had yet to be found.
Kirkpatrick, who has lived in the house for 30 years, didn't set foot inside yesterday.
"My sons told me, 'Mom, you don't want to see the house.' " mpearson@tc.canwest.com
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