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Cover Story

Soaking in rain-flooded alberta

by Judi McLeod Monday, June 20, 2005

Toronto, ON-- Rain-sodden Garth Pritchard feels a bit like Noah without the ark.

The award-winning, independent Canadian documentary filmmaker has checked in from most trouble spots of the world, reporting on Canadian defence issues from Somalia, Croatia, Kosovo and afghanistan. Canadafreepress.com is proud to call the feisty "Pritch" its international, Western-based field reporter.

In afghanistan during operation apollo in 2002, Pritchard intends to return to afghanistan and report back from the field this coming august.

Pritchard, most recently in tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka has dodged bullets, pitched tents in dangerous territory, and lived to tell the tale.

a cattle farmer when not shooting film, like many Southern albertans, Pritchard has learned right in his own backyard that Mother Nature often makes the most formidable of all foes.

Emergency evacuations were sent out for Garth, wife Sue archibald and two other neighbours yesterday, but they wouldn't go. The couple works 1400 acres at Pridiss, alberta, a small community 40 kms, Southwest of Calgary. Pridiss happens to be serviced by three dams. One of them failed yesterday, flooding the town, knocking out hydro and gas lines.

The reason Pritchard and wife did not evacuate to the safety of higher ground was they couldn't leave their stock of 40 horses and 200 cattle.

"Everything is fine for now, but it has been hardest on the foals and calves," Pritchard told cfp's Brian Thompson by telephone yesterday. "Twenty days of cold and wet weather has made it tough on them."

The merciless rains started on May 31, and basically didn't let up for some three weeks.

"Southern alberta has been pounded with a year's worth of rain in four days," Pritchard reported from home turf.

"The ground is saturated with flood conditions. What used to be pastures have turned into lakes and small creeks have become raging, out-of-control monsters."

Their own pastoral Little Fish Creek, a small pristine creek 10-15 feet wide and 2-3 feet deep which connects a series of trout-laden pools, is post-rains, a couple of hundred metres wide, taking down mature trees and washing away this year's crop of grain and seeds.

The alberta rains come as the latest nightmare for mad-cow bedeviled, hard-pressed, government-challenged farmers.

Rumours abound that alberta Premier Ralph Klein could be offering up to $100,000 for uninsured households, says Pritchard. But so far there's only been one meeting called and the feeling is that most farmers and people affected won't qualify, and will have to hear more before they can be sure.

as the typically outspoken, government-savvy Pritchard puts it: "Unless you were standing on your head in a yoga-like position when the water came rushing in and be able to prove it, you probably won't qualify."

The feds have said nothing so far, and that's good enough for Garth Pritchard.

"My opinion is that we need more local help here, not Ottawa bureaucrats. We don't need the feds around here."

as someone who has written for CFP about money promised to tsunami victims by the Canadian government never arriving in Sri Lanka, Pritchard is convinced that "it will be local help and support that will see us through, not promised money tied up in red tape."

Pritchard had two generators when the flooding first hit but they have been put to use at his neighbours.

"The local folk have been doing yeoman's work. They know where you are, know where to reach you and know your name. This is the small community lifestyle at its best–everyone pitching in to help."

His attitude is braced with the outlook that whining won't help. "Mother Nature dealt us a hand, so we might as well play it."

The Pritchard farm has lost 50-60 acres to the flooding so far–all of it prime pasture. "We will need a few days of hot sun to really see how much seed we lost," he reckons.

Meanwhile, it didn't take long for CFP's man in the field to get back on line. Now that he has, he's looking for marauding Conservative Leader Stephen Harper in tomorrow's cover story.


Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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