Emergency (Page 19)

At the beginning of September, I had the opportunity to travel to Prince George, B.C. in response to the B.C. Wildfires as a Communications Responder. During my time there, I had a chance to experience, support, and learn about the operations of a disaster response for the first time. If I had to describe my deployment experience in two words I’d say: eye-opening and fulfilling. Here are three insights that best capture my deployment experience:

Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina on Friday, bringing with it significant amounts of rain that could threaten lives. It’s anticipated that the rain will cause serious flooding in North Carolina, South Carolina and surrounding states. With evacuation orders issued to more than a million people, it is estimated that as many as 100,000 may need emergency shelter. The American Red Cross is launching a massive emergency response.  

Recently I was invited to visit James Smith Cree Nation for their Community Health Fair where an Elder approached me and said “Hello, I have a story and I want you to write it down.”

​The Packing House is a meeting place for the people of Spences Bridge, whether it’s to have a cup of coffee, catch up on the latest news and gossip, or chat with owner and local politician Steve Rice.
It’s also a stopping point for people on the road to elsewhere in B.C. Or, it was, until last summer when massive wildfires stopped the flow of tourist traffic through Spences Bridge.

While Red Cross volunteers are known for their resourcefulness and dedication, there’s one team that really goes a step above and beyond: the Supporting Evacuation and Repatriation Team (SERT) team.

Omar Abdullahi, a social worker who lives in Winnipeg, volunteers with the safety and wellbeing team of the Canadian Red Cross. He is working with evacuees from the northern Manitoba wildfires.
Before coming to Canada, Omar and his family were refugees from the Somalian civil war. When he was about 10 years old, his family, including his six sisters and two brothers, fled Mogadishu for the Kenyan border.

The residents of the Pauingassi First Nation were evacuated from their community on May 25, due to encroaching wildfires. A remote, and by all accounts, wildly beautiful community, Pauingassi is only accessible by helicopter and float plane. 

Every time Dan hears about another family affected by a house fire, his mind takes him back to a day in March 2017, when his family had their own unimaginable experience. Read about how the Red Cross helped, and how a treasured memory was saved.