Last year, the Eagle ran a story on a lower Benchlands resident who was displaced by the June 20, 2013 flood.
Fast-forward some 18 months and Linda Lavis continues to reside at former Cochrane mayoral candidate David Smith’s upper Benchlands summer home.
The retired schoolteacher of over 40 years lost her home and outbuildings during the flood. Her property is covered in debris, river rock and garbage. Her house, well and septic system and outbuildings are in need of being rebuilt.
Lavis has only been given a written guarantee from the Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) to receive a payout for the demolition cost of her ruined home; due to the remote location of her home, the demolition (which took place this fall) cost resulted in being significantly higher than what had originally been estimated.
So far, Lavis has only received a payout for rebuild cost per square foot. The commitment from the DRP to pay out for the rebuild costs on the well, septic system, garage and pumphouse have yet to be fulfilled.
“I’m seven months behind on rent…I can’t go into (further) debt as I’m already paying a mortgage,” she explained. “It feels insurmountable.”
She is awaiting reimbursement through the DRP (who she calls weekly) for the demolition costs; in the interim, this was paid for through the rebuild cost that she received — leaving her with little to spare while she awaits confirmation from the DRP.
The DRP would not cover the clean up of her land or outbuildings (tool and hay sheds, horse shelter and fencing), as their mandate is to get people back into their homes.
While she estimates the cost at a very conservative $65,000 to replace some of these buildings and clean up the land, this does not account for the cost to replace the fencing around her property.
“I have no means in my lifetime to clean up that property (by myself),” she said, adding that 1-4 feet of river rock, asphalt, tin and glass cover the pasture that used to house her three aged horses — who continue to be boarded elsewhere.
In an effort to eventually reunite her three horses with herself and her two large dogs (Twist and Chaya), Lavis felt she was left with no other choice rather than to take a grassroots approach with a ‘Go Fund Me’ campaign — on online platform that she hopes will raise $10,000 to go toward the clean-up of her land.
The platform can be found at gofundme.com/fjd1f8.
“I’ve never been one to ask for help and I’ve never had to ask for money before,” she said.
The whole ordeal seems to be driving Lavis to her breaking point — as she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
She also undergone a silent heart attack and has developed vertigo and an eye movement disorder that her doctor said is triggered from the stress resulting from the post-flood ordeal.
“It’s just been hell…the majority of people think all the flood victims are back in their homes,” said Lavis. “Thank you to everyone for any donations and offers of help.”
The flood affected 10 Benchlands homes and Lavis is one of three full-time residents impacted; of the 10 homes, three are gone, three deemed uninhabitable, three are being rebuilt and one was bought out by TransAlta (responsible for building the berm).
The framing of Lavis’ home is slated to begin in the next couple of months.
