There are no photos on the temporary walls -- many of those were destroyed by the flood.

The waters that breached and shut down the Trans-Canada Highway for a week in June also seeped into his home's walls, which are now bowed, frozen or covered in mould.

The eldest of his four children, 11-year-old Chloe, gets quiet when she passes the home's still standing white picket fence.

"I miss this house," she says.

"I know," replies her mother, Jaime Chatfield.

But for now, there's life in the government-issue trailer and a growing uncertainty: What will happen come spring, when the snow thaws and money's running tight?

Like many victims of last summer's floods, James Chatfield is furious at the government's disaster recovery program.

"What recovery program? There isn't a recovery program. It is a PR thing so the Alberta (government) can put it out so people in Calgary or Edmonton who are not in affected areas think there's something being done," he says.

The family doesn't know if it will ever move back home -- they had no insurance.

It's been eight months since more than 150 millimetres of rain hit the water basin in Cypress Hills, creating flash-flood-like conditions that cut across southern Alberta farms and the 400-person farming hamlet of Irvine.

The town sits astride a desolate stretch of the Trans-Canada between Medicine Hat and the Saskatchewan border. Its one gas station is closed and standing. The local pub and general store lie in a strip of century-old brick buildings that are hubs for the residents who live in the newer single-storey bungalows on the far side of the train tracks.

There is one elementary school, one hotel and a post office.

The men wear cowboy hats year-round and gather in the local corner store for coffee in the morning before work.

Everybody knows everyone else.

While most of the damage to roads and bridges to Cypress County have been repaired since the flood, homes are still covered in white plastic sheets, their owners increasingly tired, frustrated and angry.

The Irvine families worst hit by the flood have lost faith in all levels of government to handle a disaster.

It's a disaffection bred from two 911 calls bungled by the municipality, a lack of initial response from emergency crews and Premier Ed Stelmach's vacation in Portugal with his wife as Irvine residents lost their homes.

It's an anger that has been fed by many long months fighting with insurance agents and a disaster recovery program they describe as arbitrary, bureaucratic and slow.

Even those who have received sizable contributions from the government and their insurance companies are unwilling to make repairs to their homes; the debris still sitting in the newly deepened channel of Ross Creek is raising fears of floods come spring when the near-record drifts of snow sitting on the plains melt, bringing a new wave of water into the town.

"Our government just kind of blew us off," said Irvine resident Don Byspalko. His family used its own money to replace what was lost when the flood filled their basement hip-deep with farm runoff, sewage and river water.

"We're rural Alberta, so we don't matter," he said.

A government inspector condemned his furnace and had it removed. When his insurance company said it would not cover the cost of replacing it, "they put it back and replaced the duct work."

"The motor was under water and the contact points of the furnace are corroded," he said.

Now, in the dead of winter, he said the family doesn't have the money to replace the furnace if it fails. They have a wood stove, in case of an emergency.

Their insurance company paid them about $8,500 to replace appliances, clothes and sundry, but Byspalko said he's paid $15,000 out of pocket.

Through the disaster recovery program, the family received less than $2,000.

"The money they give you is a slap in the face," he said. "Most of the cheques are token cheques. They're just enough to give to people to keep their mouths closed."

In the wake of the flood, the provincial government allocated a record $203.5 million for a Disaster Recovery Program that would compensate municipalities, farmers, small businesses and homeowners. The rest of the relief money has been allocated to municipalities to restore roads and bridges on public land.

According to Municipal Affairs officials, 96 per cent of residential claims submitted to the DRP have been paid out.

A total of $11.7 million has been issued through 2,688 cheques.

"It's very typical in a disaster of this size that the lions' share of the cost goes into rebuilding municipal and provincial infrastructure," said Municipal Affairs spokesperson Donna Babchishin. "If you're putting any money into a municipal project, it no way takes away money available to the individual resident."

Most recipients have received less than $3,000, but some have successfully claimed more than $100,000.

About a dozen families were displaced by the flood. Of those, seven are still out of their homes; five are living in rental accommodation or with family and two are in trailers.

Even families who received tens of thousands of dollars worth of compensation from the government and insurance aren't pleased with the process.

"The only reason we are where we are is because we complained a lot," said Tamara Jones. "Every day, we were making a ridiculous number of calls."

Tamara, her husband Dustin and their four children moved back into their home a week before Christmas. The flood that swamped the Irvine suburb of Mavista Acres left the walls of their basement bowed. The government and insurance offered to pay for a portion of the repair, but they had to clear out their savings to improve the basement with sturdy concrete.

They said they expect to be tens of thousands of dollars in debt for years to come.

Worse, the cost of the repair will sit on top of a mortgage for a house that is now virtually unsellable.

They fear changes to topography caused by last June's flood have turned it into a flood plain.

"We're going to be here for years to come," she said. "We're OK with that because we like it here."

Dustin said: "We're happy because we came away with any kind of money. But the process was terrible. You felt like a criminal," he said as he discussed the flood, sitting at their kitchen table, to the chagrin of an attention-hungry toddler with an uncooked stick of spaghetti.

His wife added: "You felt like you had to beg for it."

For many people, that process was so exhausting that they gave up, she said.

"They want you to give up so they don't have to give you money," said Dustin Jones.

According to Mark Klein, spokesperson for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, insurance companies are still calculating the cost of the damage.

He said it's up to homeowners to review their insurance policies once per year and to keep themselves informed of what's covered, and what is not.

"I guess it's a matter of perception. Each policy and each situation is different, so we can't take a cookie-cutter approach," he said.

Babchishin said the DRP has been flexible; a program office was set up in Irvine. After hearing of several families living in campers as winter approached, the government purchased three trailer homes that could be deployed in future emergencies.

"Within the program guidelines, our minister very clearly mandated the staff to ensure people received the maximum they were eligible for. When people raise questions, their claims are automatically reviewed," Babchishin said.

However, disaster response programs need to have guidelines and a "recovery or a top-off program isn't going to meet all of your needs."

That said, the DRP, in combination with insurance, should have helped most flood victims to repair the damage.

"Any difficult file was reviewed, so they got the maximum that they were eligible under," Babchishin said.

Up to $10 million of the $200-million DRP will go to administering the fund, most of it to LandLink Consulting, a private firm hired to handle processing and assessing claims.

Victims have complained about the behaviour of LandLink's owners and its employees.

"They told us to get into our crawl space and dig it out with a spoon," said Jaime Chatfield. An

assessor also told her to fix her collapsing walls with a two-by-four board, she said.

"They were extremely rude to everyone in Irvine. They talked to us like we were a bunch of hillbilly hicks," she said. "He talked to me like I was three years old."

Babchishin said the government had received complaints about the company and will review its performance, along with the rest of the DRP. However, most complaints concerned the amount of compensation, not the behaviour or conduct of LandLink or its employees.

She said staff are expected to act courteous when dealing with victims.

"We certainly understand it's a stressful time and emotions run high," she said.

"They always have to maintain their integrity and act in a professional way. If that's not what happened, we want to hear about it."

So far, the government is satisfied with LandLink's performance.

"We've continued to monitor them closely.

"They've met deadlines for processing applications quickly and they're fulfilling expectations," she said.

LandLink declined to comment.

Babchishin said the purpose of the DRP is to cover non-insurable, necessary items.

The program may not replace top-of-the-line equipment. Rather, the government is paying to restore homes to a pre-disaster condition, not to replace items.

But those rules are proving problematic for people like Denise Vossler. In June, Ross Creek ripped through her property, eroding much of the river bank. Her home stood so close to the edge that it had to be moved, at a cost of $14,000.

This week, she received a cheque from the government for about a fifth of that amount. "I never cashed it and I won't," she said. "I won't settle with them at just that."

For the people of Irvine, frustration is melting to fear as warming temperatures transform the snow to water.

Geoff Watson -- a rancher whose 911 call about a wall of water headed toward the town was ignored on the night of the flood -- is raising the alarm again.

The water table is high.

The flood turned a narrow, meandering waterway that dried in the springtime into a deep-cut channel. Because the county has left flood debris untouched, trees and branches have collected at the base of the creek and become home to beavers and their dams.

No one yet knows how these factors will affect this spring's melt.

"There's a volume of snow up there that we have not seen in years," he said. "It's setting itself up for another disaster."

Alberta Environment said it was still studying the likelihood of a springtime flood.

Spokesperson Carrie Sancartier said there was a possibility of local flooding in the area. However, because floods tend to be the result of heavy rain, the government can't make long-term forecasts.

"It depends on how fast (the melt) happens. If it's over a long period of time or if it's sudden, those things we're not able to predict."

Other provinces are not taking chances.

This week, Manitoba warned residents of waterlogged soils and a high chance of flood. The government said it's purchased $22 million worth of flood-fighting equipment, including portable dykes and sandbag machines.

Likewise, above average snowfall has prompted Saskatchewan to pledge $20 million for berms, ditches and drainage studies.

When Irvine rancher Jared Roth, whose farm sits between the last bend in Ross Creek before the town, told the DRP he would like to build a dike on his property to divert future floods, "They said, 'Nope, that's not in the program. We're not here to better your property or put preventive measures in place,' " he said.

The DRP has not designated any funds for building new dykes or dams.

Instead, the farmers above Irvine are starting to form a phone tree to warn their neighbours if flood waters rise again.

Most of the 17 crossings that had been damaged are now repaired, said Darcy Geigle, the Cypress County Reeve.

"The bridges are the same as they were," he said. It's up to the province to determine any new design standards: "We can only do what they tell us to do."

As for the debris blocking the creeks: "We haven't done anything. Whatever was left in (the flood's) path is basically still there."

The creek is under the province's jurisdiction.

"We've been asking about it. There have been no responses yet," he said.

The spokesman for the Environment Ministry said clearing the debris is the responsibility of the municipality and the landowners.

Amid the uncertainty, Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Len Mitzel said there may be a limit to how much can be done to prevent future flood damage.

"We have to remember this was a once in 500 year flood," he said. "This was an unprecedented event."

But fear will keep Watson out of his home for a few months longer. He said he won't move back until he sees what happens when the snow melts this spring. "I won't put good money after bad. Not mine and not my insurance company's," he said. The Joneses are reluctant to move anything valuable into their almost-finished basement.

The Chatfield's children still have nightmares about the flood.

"They worry the flood will hit us again and we'll lose everything again," Jaime said. "I have no faith in the government. I'm not asking a lot. You vote and you hope to get something good in there. The kids are standing there looking at you. They're asking 'Why aren't they helping us?' and I don't have answers.

"It makes me feel really stupid because I don't have answers."

jgerson@calgaryherald.com