# Monster Hobbies Flooded out.



## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Hi everyone!

I don't know if you saw the news, but High River Alberta, Canada is flooded out. 

My store, Monster Hobbies, is now under water. 

Please check out my store facebook page Monster Hobbies in High River Alberta Canada. 










A picture of our street. Monster Hobbies is off camera on the left.


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

A sad day for you, my friend. I regret I never got to see your store.

I am thankful that you and your family are safe, though.


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## Frankie Boy (Feb 28, 2002)

Holy mother of god! "High River" is right.

My condolences.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Trevor are you OK?...I was evacuated from downtown Calgary 1 hour ago...had to cross the Bow River using the 14 street bridge...If you are 2 doors down from the Green Store....You've got models floating...
Denis


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

Sorry to hear this disastrous news for you both, Trevor and Denis, and I hope things get sorted out again quickly.


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## Tim Casey (Dec 4, 2004)

Wow! That is just awful! My condolences - all that stock floating in water...


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Well named town!


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## Spockr (Sep 14, 2009)

Sad news Trevor. Is your family ok? You put a lot of hard work into that store and I hope you can restore and rebuild after the waters go down. 

Best wishes,
Matt


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Wow that is awful. Good luck to both of you. Be safe.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Thank you everyone for the well wishes!

I had a thought...the store has a fire door in the back and glass doors in the front. If the store catches fire, the idea is that those precautions will isolate the fire from the rest of the building. The walls between are suppose to be fire-walls. Hopefully, this is water tight, but it's hard to know until I can get down there...which will probably be in a few days.

As for our house, my in-laws came down and we took as much stuff as we could upstairs into our kitchen area and into our bedroom as well. We had to leave a few things in the basement, but hopefully we are above the flood plane and will be ok. My in-laws are heading into town to check and will give us an update via cell phone soon. 

We are currently at my in-laws in Okotoks, the neighboring town. 

Now, I hate to come off like a jerk or anything, but if you guys feel the need to help us out with a donation or something, there is a button for it on our web site under the "About Us" section. Even $5 would be a huge help. I don't really like to ask. I'd rather sell you guys a model or something...but I don't even know what's left in there. 

But I will let you know that I will do my best to get Monster Hobbies back up and running. Spock R is right...I worked too hard for this business...I'm not going to let a simple "Act of God" stop me. It might just stall me out for a while, but not stop me!


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## Tim Casey (Dec 4, 2004)

Do you have insurance?


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Yes, I had to get insurance to lease the place. I just hope it covers this.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Good Luck in Okotoks...

This picture was just posted on Fb...
Lots of road blocks going up...I've got to get to my Sons house with a few Sump pumps and Air movers...
Denis


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

We're in the High Ground. That's Downtown.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

...and as Trevor said...Thanks for all your well wishes...Trevor is in much worse shape than I am...I'm I a position to be able to help ...My house is on high ground...so I'm off to help my son at the moment...The City of Calgary is pretty much shut down...so navigating may be my only issue...No traffic lights...so that's a bonus :thumbsup: 
Cheers and wish me luck...
Denis


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## Spockr (Sep 14, 2009)

Good luck to you guys and your families.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Some new footage of the zone. My store is down the street from 7-11.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=465444673542022&set=vb.130657577011861&type=2&theater

You can clearly see it when the video stops. You see 7-11 under water and if you look down the street, you'll see Magie's Diner, the set for Heartland. We're 3 stores down from there.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Here's a combine ride through town. You can see the new rec-plex.


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## Jafo (Apr 22, 2005)

wow. sorry to hear. Hope you get back in business soon.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Thank you! 

HIGH RIVER EMERGENCY UPDATE – FRI, JUNE 21 – 11:06 A.M.

Water has slowly begun to recede in parts of the north-west, but the river has turned south from 498 Avenue and continues to impact neigbourhoods in the south-east.

High River remains under mandatory evacuation and residents cannot return to their homes. Roads may be compromised due to sink holes and there is no public access. The RCMP and Canadian Forces are securing residents’ property and stopping anyone from entering the town.

Search and rescue remains a high priority and continues via boat and helicopter. The RCMP is organizing a systematic door-to-door search to ensure all residents are safely evacuated.

Family members trying to contact evacuees can call the Blackie Rink at 403-351-1076 and the Nanton Recreation Complex at 403-646-2961. These facilities are experiencing high volumes of calls and it may be difficult to get through

A systematic and safe evacuation of all hospital patients and staff is being organized. An Alberta Health Services number to contact relocated family members will be posted when it is available.

Utility crews continue to work on restoring essential services to the town. Sewer system is still offline and wells have been impacted, resulting in a very low water supply. ATCO is surveying the gas system and will be accompanying emergency personnel on door-to-door searches to manually shut off gas to homes. Electricity will remain off until search and rescues are complete and water has receded to a safe level.

The Town is very grateful for the many offers of volunteers to come assist, but is currently focusing on evacuating the remaining stranded residents. Once it is safe to do so, the Town will coordinate an organized group of volunteers and put out the call for assistance.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

The latest from the Landlords...

Morning folks
Our thoughts are with you all and we hope that you and your families are safe and dry.
It will take some time to sort this all out but we ask for your patience as we work towards getting the building back to normal. We have a call into our insurance agent (as probably you do too). We have already lined up a contractor for clean up and restoration, once flood waters have receded and damage can be assessed.
please let us know when you are allowed back into the premises, so we too can come down and assess the situation.
In broad terms, we are responsible for the structure, plumbing, heating, wiring, interior walls, and subfloor. The flooring, store fixtures, contents/stock are tenants responsibility and should be covered by your individual policies.
Please keep in with questions\concerns.

Regards,

Laurie & John Maher


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

The water levels are finally dropping. Hopefully we can soon go back and see the damage.


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## Greg Roccaro (Feb 9, 2003)

Trevor and Denis. Please be safe and I hope your recovery is swift. 
Sincerely
Greg


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Thank you Greg!

I am considering rebaging those plastic items that have box water damage. Hopefully they are not lost in the river somewhere. I don't know if the front store glass broke out or not. If it didn't, I might have a chance to salvage some. The town is on lock-down for 72 hours while the waters subside.

I posted the flood picture on my web site.

www.monster-hobbies.com


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

We were talking about this on another, totally unrelated message board where we have some Albertans, and it turns out one of the guys is a Monster Models customer! Small world. Small, wet world.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

We had some flash floods here in NJ last tuesday. Obviously nothing like you guys had! But there I was, commuting home in a mad downpour and about a foot of running water in some places. At one point I was sittng at a red light in the middle of Hawthorn, NJ, with foot-deep water stretching out for several blocks in each direction.

What a day to decide to leave my dashcam home!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

It's not a fun time for sure!


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Thanks Greg :thumbsup:
Sat morning and the City of Calgary is still in shut down mode . Luckily I still have power up in my neck of the woods. The last time Calgary had a flood was in 1929, 84 years ago, Here is the Front page of that event http://www.ourfutureourpast.ca/newspapr/np_page2.asp?code=NBBP0848.JPG

Hang in there Trevor the waters are starting to subside...
Denis


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Just came across this post. Here I thought Superman: The Man of Steel was a disaster! Best wishes for all of you in the Great White - well, for now - Wet North. MCR, got my fingers crossed that the damage to Monster Hobbies is minimal. :thumbsup:


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

People are saying that my front glass is intact. Hopefully it will keep all the models in.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

@ Mark - Did you know that High River was the film location for Superman's house in the 1980's movie? Well, I guess that is under water too.

High River is now under military lock-down. I was able to get these pictures before they evacuated us.









My collection of hobby and old Star Trek magazines. Starlog is now Waterlog.









Marked in dirt on the board.









A picture from 3rd ave. This is as close as I could get to the store.









Mark McKinnon and I tried to cross here on 5th ave. This man was walking out. 5 minutes later, the water was up to our hips!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

An update on the town. She walks down our street, but I still don't see my store.


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## dreadnaught726 (Feb 5, 2011)

Hang in there. Having been flooded out 9 times since 2007 (mostly due to a poorly designed and operated dam built by the Army Corp) I know exactly what you are going through. The worst was in 2011 from Irene when I had 4 feet of water in my living quarters and lost everything including all my tools and 3/4 of my kits. It is worse for you because it is your business that is being affected but you will get through this I am sure. All my hopes and best wishes.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Thankyou very much! It's nice to know that others have been through this kind of thing too. 

What did you do? This is my first natural disaster.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

^He lived with his mother-in-law for a looooong time while his house was rebuilt!


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

So sorry to hear. My thoughts and prayers go out to you all.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

@ John P - Hmm...sounds very familiar!

If you guys want to make a donation to us while we're waiting for flood relief and access back into the town, please don't be afraid to use the "Donate" button on our web site www.monster-hobbies.com 

It uses the same secure payment button system that Sears and Best Buy use, so anyone that uses their credit card, their info won't be shared to anyone else. Even I can't look at your number, it's all starred out on my end - there's no way to abuse the system and I'm not a fraud. 

People fill out a quick form and then the system accesses their Credit Card account, sends it to the processing station in The United States and then directly into my store bank account where we can access it. 100% secure...same as if you were going to buy a model kit from me using the same web page and "Add To Cart" buttons.

The donation button is located on the "About US" page. It's the best way that people can help us out securely and directly and insure that their donation gets to where it is suppose to go.

Also, If you guys donate, I get an email notification from the processing center saying that money was transferred in and it also tells me who sent it and their mailing address and E-mail. (It's on the form you fill out.) From this info, I can send you each a model and a big thank-you card, etc once I am able to get back to the store and assess the damage and salvage stuff.

I'm not asking for 1 million dollars, even $5 would do. 

Thank you.
Thank you again!


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## dreadnaught726 (Feb 5, 2011)

My house had to be totally gutted and rebuilt which took 3 months between Sept 2011 to Dec 2011. Flood insurance paid for it but did not pay for furniture and some appliances and of course did not pay for any of my tools or kits. We would like to move but due to the flood it is next to impossible to sell right now. In fact there are 9 houses in my neighborhood which are abandoned and remain empty. I really feel for what you are going through and I hope you have insurance to cover your loss. Here your home owners insurance does not cover floods so you have to get separate flood insurance. One the up side as a result of the rebuilding is my house is in better shape than before and I am sure your business will recover better than ever. Again best of luck and keep us informed.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

@ dreadnaught - It's true..the insurance companies don't cover flooding.

What they are going to do is write up a Denial Letter, which will basically say that the damage is assessed at a certian amount, say $100,000, but they, as an insurance company can't cover it. Then they will give me this letter that says "Funds not covered" and I then present it to The Alberta Flood Assistance Program. Those people then collect everyone's forms and sends them to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and he writes up the checks for us from these funds.

But someone was saying that this could take up to one year....I hope he's wrong.

However, my store insurance policy might cover more because it's a business insurance. Time will tell.


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## Parts Pit Mike (Jan 3, 2001)

Very sad to learn of this. Ironic in that the Great Lakes are 5 feet below where they used to be a mere 13 years ago.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Hi... found a picture of my storefront. Last picture on Flikr...looks like one broken window. Doesn't look like any models came out to the other side. I might be ok here...but I'd better not bring the girls around that glass.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/townofhighriver/sets/72157634308315673/


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## MonsterModelMan (Dec 20, 2000)

Trevor,
Sorry to hear the news about the store...hope everything works out for you and your family! Glad you and yours are safe!!!

Bob aka MMM


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## dreadnaught726 (Feb 5, 2011)

MadCap Romanian said:


> @ dreadnaught - It's true..the insurance companies don't cover flooding.
> 
> What they are going to do is write up a Denial Letter, which will basically say that the damage is assessed at a certian amount, say $100,000, but they, as an insurance company can't cover it. Then they will give me this letter that says "Funds not covered" and I then present it to The Alberta Flood Assistance Program. Those people then collect everyone's forms and sends them to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and he writes up the checks for us from these funds.
> 
> ...


I hope they can speed things up. I know how frustrating the wait is. In my case I just kept on the insurance company's back and pushed them as hard as I could. I realize things are a bit different in Canada but just keep track of everything going on. Hope your store insurance will cover some of the damage. All my hopes.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Hi everyone! I got my first true picture of the store...and I am so happy!

At first, it looks horrible...until you look at it through high magnification...










The front window is double pane glass. Before the flood, this one window had a bullet hole or stone chip or BB Gun Pellet in the outer glass that left a small crater with a tiny center hole in it.

When the flood hit, the water rushed that little hole and popped the outer window pane. The inner one remained intact. - You can see this because the posters are still stuck on the inner glass and there's mud splotches there.

So this means that all my stock is still in the store, safe from looters...all I need to do is to unlock the doors and walk in!  - Well, once the army lets us back, that is.

FINALLY! I can rest knowing that my models are not 5000 miles away in a farmer's field!


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Excellent!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

I want to thank everyone so far who have made donations to Monster Hobbies. So far I have recieved $550 from many people. This is a huge blessing and will help me and my family in these times to get the basics and even put aside for some restoration costs.

Now that I know that my inventory is safe, I think that I can get Monster Hobbies online up and running while the landlord's crew are making the building habital again. We just have to wait for the military to let us back into town...which could be a week. That was a lot of water!

Nice to know that I'm going to be one of the lucky few who can start his business up first. As for the others around town...I can't say the same.

Just hope that the fire door held out at the back and slowed the water down on my side. I don't think the flower shop was so lucky!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

I finally found the Flood Relief pdf booklet for our businesses :

http://alberta.ca/AlbertaCode/images/2013Disaster_manual_bus.pdf 

There's going to be a lot of work and paperwork to keep track of and a lot of work to do. Not looking forward to this at all!


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

MadCap Romanian said:


> So this means that all my stock is still in the store, safe from looters...all I need to do is to unlock the doors and walk in!  - Well, once the army lets us back, that is.
> 
> FINALLY! I can rest knowing that my models are not 5000 miles away in a farmer's field!


All I can say is I'm amazed at your good luck, after days of me thinking your shop was washed out. You are one lucky shop owner!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Thank you very much! 

Yes, I was very lucky in this...probably more lucky than most! However, rebuilding might be a pain.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

You know, in a lot of ways, this flood is not really a bad thing.

I've been in business for 9 years and been in that location for 7+. We painted the walls and such in it all those years ago and the place was looking tired.

As for myself, I was working hard to keep it going through the recession, doing other jobs I didn't like, such as painting houses and cleaning cattle liners. Even my whole idea of what the store should be was getting tired.And running the store was a 6 day, 15 hour a day job.

For my family, my wife and I both had to work many long and odd hours where we couldn't have a full day off together. Also, our kids were being passed off to Grandparents and each other while we were dealing with these odd and conflicting schedules.

With the flood, we have had good time together and I am now starting to re-focus on how I want to run the store when we can go back to it.

And as for the store, it will have to be totally rebuilt, and the Landlord will do that first, followed by us. So this means I won't be returning to a 40+ year old building with questionable wiring and such...it will be a fresh store with new, up to code wiring, walls, and such. All I need to do is paint the "Box", put down new flooring, and restock the shelves, which should come through with my insurance pay-out. 

I also know the direction I want the store to go in as far as inventory goes. The top sellers first and no more of that old "Dead Stock". I can also re-invest in furniture (like showcases and such) that matches and so on. And finally, that 30+ year old junky carpet can be thrown out!

All in all, it should be good once it all comes through.


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

I knew it: Trevor planned the whole thing.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Yes...and you guys should all fear my mighty powers! - lol!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Today's the day that they announce that we can return to our homes in the NW of High River. Still don't know about returning to Down Town yet though.


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

Trevor - I'm sorry I missed this thread! You have a fantastic attitude towards the situation, which is going to be a tremendous help in the months ahead!

Odd coincidence - our house was flooded out on June 23, 1972, with 6 feet of water on the second floor. The structure was intact, but we had to remove the walls down to the studs. We used ALOT of bleach and lysol disenfectant , and even though we cleaned thoroughly we were still finding flood mud years afterwards.
Be sure to get tetanus shots - will the Dept. of Health give you the shots you need to work in the flood plain?

It was interesting, how the community and neighborhood attitude of standing together and rebuilding took hold. The slogan was "The Valley with Heart - Coming Back Better Than Ever!" I hope your community bands together and succeeds.

Best of luck to you.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Thank you very much! Tetanus shots...oh man!


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