Texada Island community rallies to help local health centre staff

When we show up for work on an average morning, most of us have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the day ahead. Not always so for Registered Nurses Susan Sharkey and Roxanna Rasmussen who work at VCH’s Texada Island Health Centre.

When they arrived at work after a period of heavy rain last Wednesday morning (Dec. 10), they were met with a power outage and what Susan calls “a veritable lake at our back door.”

Because it was clear that the rising water level would soon be flowing through the back door of the health centre she did what she needed to avoid that: she waded in to the expanding pool of water up to her knees and, after some groping around, found the plugged drain and began to clear the debris of leaves and pine cones.

Over the next few hours, Susan and Roxanna took turns standing guard over the drain to keep it from clogging up again. Roxanna also reached out to people in the community, who rallied with rakes, hoes and shovels, helping dig at the back of the clinic to divert the river that was running down the driveway.

They also received help from Lafarge Texada Quarrying, who made up sandbags and sent trucks out to deliver them. Another Texada Island resident, Glen Walker, used his backhoe to dig a drainage ditch that ultimately solved the problem while Warren Kiland, a Texada Quarrying manager, also went above and beyond by loaning his own generator to supply emergency lights and power to the clinic until hydro was restored later that afternoon.

“All in all, a challenging day!” is how Susan summed it all up. An understatement perhaps but she also wanted to emphasize the power of community and good neighbours when she says, “Local volunteers were essential in preventing the flood at the clinic.”

“This was a great example of people pulling together in a crisis!”