Flooded street in Maple Creek.
MAPLE CREEK, Sask. – The people of this town won’t forget June 18 anytime soon. As national news coverage showed, flooding devastated the area, including Medicine Hat, Alberta. Many people lost possessions, even their homes, to the waters.
Cypress Parish pastor, Rev. Brad Julien travelled to Maple Creek a number of times in the week after the flooding. “First of all I was struck by how the citizens of Maple Creek bonded together in the wake of this flooding that touched everyone,” he reports. “I remember visiting some people and being touched at how much they were affected, but how they were going over to the neighbours’ to help them clear out their basement. This was happening all over town. The community came together to help one another through this disaster.”
The second thing that impressed Rev. Julien was how quickly emergency help mobilized. “Many people deserve credit for this,” he says, “but the one I would like to mention is Captain Ed Dean of the Salvation Army. Captain Ed and his staff did a wonderful job in organizing relief efforts with victim services and with the ministerial.”
In the midst of the catastrophe, high school graduation still took place on June 25. “It’s a reminder to us all that we don’t know what tomorrow will bring; we don’t know how things are going to play out,” says Rev. Julien. “But our lives continue—grad took place, businesses reopened and homes continue to be cleaned out, dried and repaired. However, things are not going to be the same. The effects of that one weekend are going to be with us for a very long time. We ask that you continue to keep the people of Maple Creek and Medicine Hat in your prayers.”