Floods and other natural catastrophes don’t stop the passing of time. Houses flood, families lose everything, but life goes on.

And Anderson experienced that first-hand.

Once the Anderson family evacuated they still had jobs to go to and bills to pay. So the family settled temporarily in an RV at a campground just outside the reserve. The RV was an old one. It didn’t have air conditioning, had no stove, nor a fridge. Realizing that the family couldn’t stay in those living conditions long-term, especially during winter, the Andersons had to take out a loan to buy another RV, one that could house them more comfortably. And that’s how expenses due to the evacuation started adding up — the new RV alone cost $14,000.

And as the years pass, the victims of the 2011 Manitoba flood age and their health deteriorates.

One of Clifford’s biggest regrets is that his mother Ruth will never see her home again. He is not just sorry his mother had to evacuate but that her last memory of her home was that of flooded property, not the home that had been in the family for generations. One day, after Ruth had evacuated, she returned to the area, which is when Clifford spotted her outside the house, crying.

“I asked her why she was there and she said she wanted to see what it looked like but didn’t realize it was that bad — the house was sitting in a lake,” Clifford said. “Ever since she had to move out of the house it was stressful for her.”

Ruth always talked about going back once the water receded but she died in March 2013 from a heart attack.

Some victims, including Clifford’s mother and two of his sisters, have since died. These were factors in Clifford and his co-plaintiffs’ decision to agree to the settlement.

“In the years since 2011 there have been a lot of people who have passed on because of health issues, and suicide and depression is really bad for some people,” Clifford said. “It’s not perfect — nothing ever is — and I don’t know what the ideal [settlement] amount would have been.”

“Even though it took this time, I think it happened fairly fast. I knew we were never going to get the original amount but I can’t say I’m satisfied with what we got. When you divide this among the four reserves, it’s not very much.”

Clifford and his wife have a new house back on the reserve and live close to their relatives. They have once again started to tend to their garden with the hopes of growing it to the stature of their previous one. But despite all of their losses, everything they had to go through due to the floods, they are the lucky ones. Because there are others who will never have the chance for a new beginning, whose last memories of their family homes are of abandoned property engulfed by water. ●