Disaster Response (Page 25)

On December 31, Geneviève Gauvin was curling her six-year-old daughter’s hair for New Year’s Eve when she heard someone knock on the door, shouting for her to get out. The building was on fire!

​Tropical Storm Tembin made landfall in Mindanao, in southern Philippines, last weekend, causing flashfloods and landslides and impacting up to 23 provinces and leaving thousands displaced. The storm caused damage to homes, as well as critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges and power lines. Casualties and injuries, as well as missing people, have also been reported.

The holidays can be difficult for some, including those who have experienced an emergency or disaster such as wildfires and flooding that affected many throughout the country this year. We’ve gathered some information on stress as well as tips for taking care of yourself and others during the holidays in this booklet, Moving through Recovery: a guide during the holidays.

“The stress and anguish (people) go through, especially right after a disaster, and the emotional toll it takes to recover or deal with the situation – it affects everyone,” says Angelo Leo.  The Canadian Red Cross humanitarian from Vancouver has helped people impacted by disasters and emergencies as far away as Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. But this summer, he volunteered to help much closer to home. Leo is part of the Red Cross Safety and Well-being team and he went to Williams Lake to help people work through the trauma left behind by the massive wildfires that swept across much of British Columbia.

Inside the isolation tents at the Red Cross Red Crescent field hospital in Bangladesh, the air is still. Six kids fight measles, although at some points over the past weeks nearly all 20 beds have been filled at once. Little lungs work to fill as respiratory tract infections are the hallmark of this disease.

In 1917, Halifax, Nova Scotia, was a bustling port and major hub for Canada's First World War effort. Its deep and ice-free harbour is closer to Europe than most on the Atlantic coast of North America and tens of thousands of Canadian, other British Empire and American troops and a steady stream of ships loaded with wartime supplies passed through Halifax to or from Europe.
 
On December 6, the deadliest disaster in Canadian history occurred.

It’s been three months since waves of people started arriving in Bangladesh by the thousands. Now, at least 621,000 people have fled violence in Myanmar since August 25, joining more than 300,000 who left earlier. That’s almost one million people. But nine-year-old Nur Kiyas doesn’t want to be just one in million.

It’s hard enough to help people when you clearly see the pain, exhaustion or panic on their faces. But when thousands file past in the dark, as they arrive from Myanmar at the Bangladesh transit centre - stumbling, moaning or just staring blankly - all a small team of Canadian doctors and nurses could do was try their best.