Thunder Bay flooding: Experience and expertise on the ground

We're over a week into the response to significant flooding in Thunder Bay, Ontario and the Red Cross has significantly ramped up its operations to assess the needs of affected residents, provide emergency relief and plan for longer term recovery. While local volunteers are playing a critical role, they are getting support from unlikely places.

Volunteers in Thunder BayMore than 100 Red Cross volunteers are on the ground, from Ontario but also from across the country. You may be wondering why the Red Cross would bring volunteers from as far away as Newfoundland and Alberta to respond to a disaster in an Ontario community. It's about making the most of experience and expertise within the organization.

Flooding is a familiar sight to volunteers from New Brunswick, for example, who deal with this type of situation on a fairly regular basis. And in Alberta, recovery work after the Slave Lake fire is still ongoing but volunteers are more than willing to share their learnings from that disaster with the response team in Thunder Bay.

The training Canadian Red Cross volunteers receive is the same across the country so once they get briefed on the specifics of a disaster, they can quickly get to work doing what they do best: helping residents. When a disaster strikes a community and the local volunteer base is either personally affected or overwhelmed by the large-scale impact, volunteers from other provinces can step in.

These volunteer deployments would not be possible without the generous support of WestJet, which donated flights into Thunder Bay. Thank you!

Want to get involved? Find out more about volunteering in your community.

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