Water Over the Bridge

32.5 centimetres. That’s about half of the total rainfall many Albertan towns see in a year, but, in 2013, the small town of High River recorded it in just two days. The heavens had opened above Alberta in one of the most infamous floods to ever hit Canada, and in High River and across the region, many lives would be changed forever. After mass evacuation, the town was temporarily abandoned, its streets and suburbs lost beneath the murky floodwaters. Author Marilyn Boake was one of the lucky few to survive the flood relatively unscathed, but she was witness to the ruin that beset her friends, her neighbours, and her community. When they finally returned to their homes, the citizens of High River were left to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. Now, their voices can be heard: in Water Over the Bridge, Boake records in vivid detail the real-life trials and tribulations faced by six High Riverite families facing the flood. Chronicling the days from the first dark cloud to the earliest attempts at recovery, Water Over the Bridge is a generous, human, and ultimately uplifting account of Canada’s most destructive flood.