A couple from Kleefeld could be out of their home for weeks yet as the result of a flooded basement from last week's heavy rain.
Southern Manitoba was inundated with rain on Monday and Tuesday, with some areas receiving more than 200 millimetres in about 24 hours. In the Rural Municipality of Hanover, this resulted in road closures and flooded basements.
Brittany Engbrecht lives in Kleefeld, 65 kilometres south of Winnipeg. Engbrecht says though her basement stayed dry, the same cannot be said for her parents Mark and Khristy Butler, who live just around the corner.
Engbrecht explains that Tuesday started as a normal day for her parents. By about 7 am, they were out of their house and headed for work. But a few hours later they received a text message from a neighbour, noting all of the water surrounding their house and questioning whether or not they were home.
Engbrecht says it was then that her mother attempted to return home. However, when she reached their street, the water was so deep that she was forced to park her vehicle and walk to her front door.
"Once she got up to the front door and opened the house, she saw water in the basement," recalls Engbrecht. "There were only three stairs at the top of the basement staircase showing, the rest was all full of water."
Engbrecht says their contents were floating in the basement and the smell was terrible.
According to Engbrecht, her parents have a finished basement, aside from the flooring and ceiling. One of the rooms downstairs was a music room with approximately $10,000 to $15,000 worth of music equipment, including recording equipment, microphones and vintage guitars.
There is also a bedroom downstairs, and Engbrecht says its contents including the mattress and other furniture were floating in the water.
Other items that were destroyed in the flood include freezers with food, a furnace, hot water tank, living room furniture, exercise equipment, washer and drier and bins filled with family photos.
Engbrecht says her parents' home is about six years old and has never had water issues. However, she says Kleefeld is unfortunately known to have drainage issues.
"Everyone in our neighbourhood would fully vouch for that, that the normal water volume that we receive from spring melt and rains during the rainy season, all kind of pools," she explains. "Those issues mixed with the abundance of rain, just overloaded everything and the water really had nowhere to go at all. My parents unfortunately received the absolute worst."
Engbrecht explains that to compound the problem, they were not able to immediately drain the water from the basement. That is because her parent's house remained an island following the rain, with water levels not dropping as quickly as they rose. She notes it was only about 24 hours later when a company, which volunteered its time, was finally able to pump out the basement, without the water not immediately flowing back in. Engbrecht says they used three industrial pumps and fire hoses and five hours later the basement was drained.
Now, one week later, Engbrecht says the humidity in the home is still above 70 per cent. She notes they have construction fans set up and two industrial dehumidifiers running non-stop, yet they have already discovered black mould. And, because the furnace was full of water, Engbrecht says the expectation is that there will be mould spores in all of the ductwork as well.
Insurance only covers small portion of damage
According to Engbrecht, her parents have insurance but it only covers a small percentage of the damage. She notes the damage estimate is about $100,000. Engbrecht says their overland flooding insurance does not cover contents. As a result, of the $100,000 damage estimate, only $10,000 is covered by insurance.
Engbrecht says her parents have moved in with her and her family. She says it could be weeks before they are able to return home. Before that can happen, the basement needs to dry, but they also need to make the house livable again. Engbrecht says the biggest things right now are a new electrical panel in order to have hydro, they need a new hot water tank, furnace and washer and drier. She notes they have started a GoFundMe page with hopes of raising $10,000 to recoup some of the funds needed to replace some of those necessities.
Engbrecht says that considering the circumstances, her parents are holding up quite well.
"We've had people who we've never met or talked to before reach out to my parents offering help, lending tools, their time, we've had people give us meals and money for food," she says. "It's been an emotional thing for both of my parents, especially losing those sentimental things to them."
She notes this experience has proven how amazing the community of Kleefeld is and how people come together in a time of need.