Going over the building permit stats from year-to-year in High River has become a bit like comparing apples to bricks.

The stats have been thrown out of whack since the 2013 flood.

According to numbers released by the Town, residential building permits were worth $20,-54,031 in 2016, but almost all of that was for rebuilds, not new homes.

Residential renovation permits totalled over $3,117,394, less than half the year before.

On the commercial side, construction was down to $2,576,439 after $14,587,806 was issued the year before.

That year the Canadian Tire, Marks, Peavey Mart and the northwest commercial development including the Tim Horton's was built.

Permits for Government building was worth $416,000 in 2016 compared to $12,574,139 the year before when the permit was issued for the post-flood reconstruction of the Medicine Tree Manor seniors complex.

Sixteen demolition permits were issued last year but only nine were flood related while 75 were issued the year before with only one non flood related permit.

In 2014 every one of the 110 demolition permits issued was flood related.