This time the call isn't for assistance to a singular victim, or a community call out for the local United Way or some other non-profit or charitable organization. Nope, this time it has been an ad hoc call to arms to fend off some of the best challenges Mother Nature could throw at them.
Estevanites and those citizens in communities such as Benson, Lampman, Roche Percee and surrounding rural municipalities are taking on the challenge with the five R's; resilience, resolve, recovery, reflection and recharging.
This has not been easy, it has gone on for over a month and the combatants are getting tired, and in some instances, the battle is far from over.
That's where the resilience comes in because many will be facing the heartbreak of having to deal with ruined homes. They'll have to become flexible and imaginative during their recovery mode. There will be glitches and setbacks for sure because recovery never comes without frustrations, so that goes back to the resilience point again.
Resolve will set in once the damages have been assessed. Decisions will be made whether to rebuild or move on to another area. We hope they remain around here. We don't want to lose anyone because of these tragic events. We have seen resolve to fight on many fronts. Those fights have been aided by the generosity of local businesses, especially in the oil patch, as they have responded to the calls in spades. Digging, trenching, berm building, sandbagging ... the business community has provided the punch that has kept many victims moving forward with their donations of talent, time, equipment and materials. There are countless stories of local production, service and construction companies leaping into the breach to provide a helping hand without sweating the details and costs. That's our community and we're proud of them.
Reflection will take some time but it must be done. That process will include a complete assessment of what was done and what could have been done, right from the management of the water flows in 2009 and 2010 to the sandbagging tactics being deployed as late as July of 2011 as the flood waters recede into our memory bank, but never forgotten. This flood was too devastating to be forgotten. We trust a lot of people were taking notes and recording details because future generations may find them useful.
Then will come the recharging.
After we've reflected and gathered our resolve and planned out the future, there will be the need to re-energize. There will be a lot of work to be done in the aftermath of the floods and it won't involve the front page stuff, the sexy stuff of front-line fighting of raging waters. No, this time it will be the more mundane things like pumping out a few more inches of water, replacing moulding baseboards and drywall, repairing drowned out equipment and vehicles, finding lumber, cement and tradespeople to move a recovery project along to completion.
There will be the agreements and disagreements with government officials as to what qualifies for assistance and what doesn't. Devastation comes in many forms and colours. That will have to be sorted out and it can't be if we haven't recharged for the next long haul.
But when it is all said and done, we expect to be able to point to the summer of 2011 with some pride and declare that this was one summer when human nature trumped Mother Nature thanks to the force of our everyday citizens, our neighbours, our friends.
