Arbitration granted to High River flood victims

Residents living in one of the communities hit hardest by the June floods say a court ruling is a small victory in their bid to get fair compensation from the province.

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For several months the province has been avoiding arbitration with residents in High River who say their homes were sacrificed to save other parts of the town south of Calgary.

Berms were built around Hampton Hills and Sunrise to contain the water, and more water was pumped in from other communities. Residents were kept away from their homes for close to a month, which made it difficult to rebuild with mould and other health concerns.

Many of the homeowners wanted government buyouts, but were told theirhomes were not eligible because they were not in the floodway.

DeniseJames-Pelley says after getting no response on buyouts from the province they went to court.

"The legal advice that we received wasthat in these unique circumstancesthe law of Alberta obligated the province to compensate us for the damage their actions caused us for [being]sacrificed which is what was said on the tape we were sacrificed to save other areas," she said.

The tape she is referring to is froma private meeting between officials and residents one monthafter floodwaters ripped through the community.

"We had to sacrifice your area to try and get the other ones de-watered," Darwin Durnie, who was hired by the province to manage emergency flood operations in High River, saidtothe gathered crowd.

On Monday, a judge ruledthe province must enter into arbitration with the affected homeowners.

About 18 families from Hampton Hills and Sunrise in High River are involved in the case.

"Water levels went upafter the flood.We were held in and contained. Waters that were contaminated by E.coli, and even worse, for those 25 to 30 days and we're just seeking to be treated fairly," said Hampton Hills homeownerGreg Tymchyna.

Residents have been told the arbitration process could begin as soon as January.

The province says it won't comment becausethe matteris still before the court.