As a community there is little doubt that High River has been the hardest hit by the flooding and general disaster. That being said, Canmore, Turner Valley, Black Diamond and Calgary have all been hit rather hard as well.
High River of all these communities appears to be getting completely out of control as secretive briefings keep even the local elected representatives in the dark about flood plans and communications to the victims is becoming nothing less than a disaster.
What country are we living in? What the hell is going on? What else are officers going through in people’s homes as they refuse to allow residents back? How much further will the violation of privacy and property of High River residents go? It will be wonderful as people return to their damaged homes to find that their personal belongings have been rummaged through by the authorities for no good reason.
Police assure people that the property that they seizing after having broken into flood victims homes will be returned with presentation of proof of ownership. If your proof of ownership was lost in the flood though, I guess you are screwed. Having the private property locked in your private home was not proof enough to our local RCMP apparently,
This is truly nuts and there are going to be some very huge questions demanding answers in the meantime.
Usually in a disaster it is displaced residents who lose control for a time. In High River it appears to be the police and local authorities. Absolutely crazy!
Bad enough to be a victim of the raging flood waters; residents of HR are being victimized a second time — this time by the very people charged to protect them: the police!
The Nanny state of Ontario & Quebec has infected the west — Big government knows better instead of impowering the citizens to resolve their own problems.
It makes sense as Calgary voted in it’s first NDP Mayor — the end is near.
My jaw is agape as I’m reading this!!! Can there be any doubt we need protection of property legislation in this province?
What is going on in High River is nutzoid but let me be the devils advocate here for a minute.
There were people who stayed behind (or reported that is the reality) so perhaps the police know who those people may be and breaking into other peoples homes, now that they are desperate for food, water etc is a concern??
Other than that, the High River nightmare is worse than a nightmare. I can’t believe that this town has not been covered full time by the media. If Calgary is this bad (and it truly is the saddest thing I have ever seen) then HR is a war zone.
Danielle Smith has kept this story alive and our provincial politicians should wear a dunce cap!
I don’t think the issue of police searching homes was the issue — it was whether people should be allowed back to try to salvage what they could of their homes and being prevented by law enforcement — in Ontario this is Nanny state mentality — as I have relatives from Alberta — this is a mentality to resolve their own problems and resolve an outstanding issue. I agree with this mentaility — government likes to impose itself on what is right — here in Toronto they like to impose gas taxes, land transfer taxes, what pesticides you use, impose car taxes, whether u use platic bags, and what is defined as “rapid transit”. It is all BS as these councillors are marxists with an agenda to impose control on people.
Alberta should not fall into this same trap — I always loved my relatives and the CAN-DO mentality. This is a great Albertan quality and I admire that.
You like it or not it is the people and their attitude that make a place hum.
Let the people go back and empower them with the tools they need to save what they can of their lives.
A Torontonian with an Albertan soul and Albertan relatives.
Awesome sound off and you are right. WE do rebuild as a team but we do have a few hhmmmm transplants….:) Thank you for your common sense!
Just related this story to a friend who said the RCMP did this during the Slave Lake Fire as well.
Word is that the police and army were told to search every house for non-evacuees. Which meant, in almost all cases, having to break into the houses, whether by breaking a window or knocking in the door. This came from a resident who stayed put and who observed the forcible entry of his neighbours’ homes even though he tried to tell the ‘authorities’ that his neighbours had left. So the majority of the houses in High River are now open to any chance invader.
An offspring’s colleague was given five hours to evacuate: they took what they could and moved as much else to the second story. Still not allowed back. So, given it’s a week since the inundation, the mould and stench is rapidly multiplying. Not allowing people back just means that there will be a seriously worse mess than if residents had been allowed for limited hours to remove what they could an mitigate the damage.
We’re on call: when and if High River residents are ever allowed to return, we’re to go out and help friends of our offsprings. Frustration is, we should be mobilizing now.
the people who had their guns stolen should not have to provide any proof of ownership. the RCMP should have a list of anything removed from a persons home and as soon as possible return that property, as listed when removed, to the home itself.
This will certainly hinder any future evacuation attempts…..ludicrous…..and scary.
Report the theft to the RCMP(!) and the insurance company.
Hello, I am from High River, my self included and 3 other family members who live here all flooded badly but ORANGE color meaning uninhabitable but can be salvaged and cleaned. I have spent 7 days straight gutting basements, 12 15hr days non stop, its just unbelievable the extent of the damage. Because the evacuation order was the entire town, homes left unattended etc, flooding was so severe and many residents remained, then we have the FN looter bastards who feed off of this sort of tragedy! id like to shoot a few of these people myself!! Marshall law basically came into play… and even tho I am not a gun owner, i believe that the RCMP were finding these weapons out in the open, and not locked up. In my view, to secure them from getting into the wrong hands… they will be returned to legal owners if they are legally reg’d etc, if not then of course they will not be returned, to me a good thing as well, get illegal weapons off the street from possible people who shouldnt have them in the first place.
For me personally, I could give a shit about the seizure of guns… the town was and is a hell, lives lost, homes destroyed, personal items from every family that cannot be replaced, house after house after house… its soooo sad and hard to look at every day. My sisters brothers homes are finally drying out, gutted, sanitized, every wall gone, and so so many things lost that you just cannot replace.