Floods (Page 13)

As the Alberta Flood anniversary approaches, we at Red Cross are naturally focused on the work still ahead of us. That’s because we know hundreds of families are still struggling to recover.  Even now, people arrive at our offices with heartbreaking stories. Often, their financial credit is maxed out and they don’t know where else to turn. In the midst of this need, it can be tough to take time to recognize everything that’s already been accomplished during the Canadian Red Cross Alberta Flood response. But of course, that’s equally important. So today, Red Cross says a special thank you to all the staff and volunteers who work so hard to help others.

Living with seven kids in four tiny motel rooms for months on end following devastating floods might test the patience of many people, but Phillomene Stevens is just grateful her family is safe.

Slabs of fresh sod draw subtle lines along the High River field where Andrea Vasquez’s kids play soccer now. Just as the park shows few signs of last year’s devastating floods, Vasquez says her family also refuses to be defined by the disaster.

While packing my bags to come to Bosnia and Herzegovina, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d seen pictures of the devastating floods on TV. But it’s one thing to see something on TV, and something else entirely to be standing in the middle of it.

To be a Red Crosser sometimes means you have to be ingenious about getting the job done, especially in a disaster response. And job location flexibility is always an asset when you work with a global humanitarian response agency.

Debbie Smith, Donna Doak and Sharon McDougall are Red Cross disaster response volunteers from Brockville who have been volunteering their time to help those who have been evacuated from their homes in northern Ontario due to flooding.

When 17-year-old Janie Inishinapay was forced to evacuate from her northern Ontario home in Kashechewan earlier this week because of extensive flooding, her first priority was ensuring the safety of her infant son, Rysen, who has cerebral palsy.