Emergency 33

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world. Here is an update on Red Cross response to flooding in the United States, and earthquakes in Italy and Myanmar.

When the time came to evacuate his Abasand home due to the wildfire, Dan Edwards had only a few moments to grab the essentials - luckily, he was prepared with his emergency kit for a moment just like this. 

At the Wood Buffalo Regional Library, Librarian Nicole Greville meets with a group of Fort McMurray residents to practice English conversation over coffee and snacks.
 
It’s been more than two months since the ESL group last met and the room is abuzz with conversation. After all, there’s a lot to catch up on.

The Fort McMurray area is home to almost 90,000 people. Each of them has their own experience and story after May’s wildfires tore through the region. That’s why Red Cross case workers continue to meet with families and individuals to talk through their personal needs and find effective ways to assist. Reaching those people means working alongside community groups like the Nistawoyou Association Friendship Centre. The Canadian Red Cross is partnering with the Centre to help connect with aboriginal residents.

Disaster is not new to Nancy Hollman. Imagine a stormy, grey, summer afternoon. On her bed with her two and a half year old son, Hollman was suddenly thrown to the floor and covered in debris. It was July 31, 1987. A tornado had just demolished her Edmonton home. 27 people died, but Nancy and her child survived to be rescued from the rubble. Almost 30 years later, Nancy is now working with the Canadian Red Cross, meeting with people who lost their homes just three months ago, in the Alberta wildfires. 

A celebration of resiliency and togetherness brought together Fort McMurray’s Metis community at its annual Metis Festival on July 25^th. The event was delayed a couple of months because of the wildfire in May.
McMurray Metis’ office, storage and entire site was destroyed by the wildfire that swept through the community, forcing thousands of people to evacuate. While fortunately the group was able to save many of its archives, all of its data and documentation was lost

“This food bank hasn’t had line-ups for more than a decade.” Arianna Johnson, executive director at the Wood Buffalo Food Bank in Fort McMurray, says the wildfires changed that. Since it reopened in early June, staff members have prepared and handed out 150 hampers a day, a significant increase from last year.

Fort McMurray people are resilient. When wildfires, which scorched an area 100 times the size of Manhattan, destroyed some 2,500 town buildings and resulted in a month-long evacuation, even the strongest residents were tested. Meet one person the Canadian Red Cross had the privilege to support, Eva Janvier.