Disaster Response (Page 45)

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.

As December is upon us and we prepare to enjoy the holiday season with family and friends, sharing gifts, traditions and special moments with loved ones, and reflecting on the year that has passed, we also want to invite Canadians to help us bring warmth and comfort to people who are not as fortunate in communities across the country. 

As winter approaches, along with the annual threat of snow storms and extended power outages, the Canadian Red Cross is ready to help, just as they did recently when thousands of Calgarians were plunged into darkness.

One year has passed since Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines, on November 8, 2013, affecting more than 16 million people.

The Manitoba Disaster Management trailer recently rolled out of the Red Cross Winnipeg office, heading east to Ontario, ready for a dramatic makeover.

This year’s World Disasters Report, released by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), takes on a challenging theme of looking at how culture affects disaster risk reduction, and how disasters and risk influence culture.

The cat in question, Sylvester, a black cat who lived in Dauphin’s Towers Hotel, came back from a near-death experience after he rode the front of the hotel’s second storey down to the ground as it collapsed following a recent fire. The fire left several residents without a home, including the cat.

In an effort to help others recover after the floods, teenagers from schools in High River, Calgary, Canmore and Morley are creating short videos detailing their experiences with the disaster. The teenagers' videos are short but say a great deal about the Alberta floods of 2013. They use simple language but express powerful emotions. And this is precisely the point of the arts project funded by the Canadian Red Cross called Youth Creating Disaster Recovery (YCDR).