In June 2013, heavy rains led to a flood in the Canadian province of Alberta and one of the hardest-hit areas was the town of High River, a suburb of Calgary. In Beachwood Estates, a High River neighborhood, where mostly million-dollar houses were situated, floodwaters forced the inhabitants to leave their properties, and never come back. These spine-chilling abandoned mansions were demolished in early 2017.
Beachwood Estates was once a thriving community full of pricey homes tucked among more modest ones.
Now the homes are empty and abandoned, virtually untouched for four years.
As part of a relocation platform, the Alberta government bought the homes, according to The Calgary Herald.
Of the 94 properties purchased by the government, 54 were or will be demolished and 26 were put up for sale.
The fate of another 14 is still up in the air.
The relocation program cost the community 92.9 million Canadian dollars ($66.8 million).
The remaining homes were empty until early 2017, when they were auctioned off by the Alberta government to recoup some losses.
The auction for the homes started at 50 Canadian dollars.
Eleven of the homes hit the hammer below 100,000 Canadian dollars, but a few sold for about double that.
The most expensive sold for 262,500 Canadian dollars. The property values for many of the homes verged near 1 million Canadian dollars before the flood.
The auction came with a huge catch, however.
In addition to rehabilitating the abandoned houses, buyers must also move them.
After the flood, it was found that the homes were built on a flood plain of the nearby Highwood River.
Though numerous projects have been undertaken since the flood, it still isn't completely safe to live on the flood plain, city officials say.
Moving a house is a daunting prospect.
The homes will cost tens of thousands of Canadian dollars to move, in a conservative estimate.
Since the homes are large, they must first be taken apart and then moved piece by piece.
This necessitates the removal of the roof as well.
Buyers had 160 days to move their new houses, which means the structures are now spread out across the country.
The local government is now in the process of returning the land to its natural state.
That includes removing utilities and filling in basements.
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